Band War
by Evening Lilacs
Summary: Atemu's band is playing in a competition, but what happens when he comes down with something nasty and can't sing? It's a fight to the top as the fallingapart and depressed band is forced to perform... somehow. AtemuAnzu YugiRebecca RyoIsis
1. A Sick Vocalist

**Disclaimer:** Hah. You must be blind to get me confused with Kazuki Takahashi, who owns Yu-Gi-Oh.

* * *

Atemu Mutou trudged home through the two-feet-high December snow one freezing day sfter school, shivering fiercely. He'd gotten detention for something he didn't do, and now he had to walk all the way home through the quickly worstening storm. Great. Just great.

A car sped by sending a soaking storm of snowflakes, water and slush his way. Atemu sneezed and pressed on, hands deep in his coat pockets. But he was surprised to see the car, a long black limo, slow down and even up with him. A brunette head stuck out of a back passenger seat window.

"Atemu?"

"I won't duel you today, Kaiba."

Darn that pharaoh, but a good CEO always has a come-back. "I just wanted to see if you needed a ride home, _Pharaoh_. You really shouldn't be out without a hat or anything. You'll catch a cold, you know," he sneered.

"I'm fine, _Mother_." Atemu shot back, sneezing again.

The sky had darkened ominously, and the wind was blowing harder by the second. Anyone who went out in that weather in just the school uniform was either crazy or Malik, who WAS crazy. The roads and sidewalks were slick with ice and it was another mile at least to the Mutou residence. At the turtle speed Atemu was going at, it would literally take him an hour to get home. Seto knew it would not be good publicity if local security cameras caught his limo practically plowing over another duelist, particularly a certain three thousand-year-old spiky-haired one. Not good for his reputation.

In all honesty, Atemu looked horrible. His eyes were tired, droopy and bloodshot and his shoulders sagged. His nose and cheeks were fierce red, but his hands were pale as ice.

Seto opened the door to the back of the limo, got out, and dragged the shorter boy into the car. "You're coming with me, and you don't have a choice."

"Kaiba-"

"Sorry pal." Kaiba pushed Atemu into the seat next to him and forcefully buckled him in. "To the Kame game shop, Roland."

The driver looked stunned for a second, then regained his composure. "Yes Mister Kaiba."

Seto watched the other boy's reflection in the limo's window as the snow-covered buildings fled past. Atemu was sniffling, and his eyes had become completely different. They were no longer home to the raw wrath and power Seto had faced in their duels. Instead they appeared cold, thirsting, and helpless, crimson water thrashing about in glazed pits. Atemu coughed hoarsely, and the CEO noticed how small the ex-pharaoh really was compared to himself.

"Here we are, sir," stated Roland, stopping the limo and opening the door for his teenage employer. Seto slid out, briefcase in hand, and Atemu stepped out after him.

"Thank you, Kaiba."

"Just be prepared for the next time we meet. It'll be in the dueling arena."

"Fine then. Good-bye." Seto watched Atemu walk to the back of the game shop and let himself in before again stepping into the back seat of his limo. Roland shut the door, got back behind the wheel and drove off to the Kaiba mansion.

* * *

With Atemu: 

Atemu stepped inside the warm house, coughing. He hung up his soaked school jacket and set his shoes by the radiator to dry.

"Atemu, is that you?" came Sogoroku Mutou's voice.

"It's me," he replied. He tiredly ascended the stairs to the room he shared with Yugi.

"Hi- Whoa, you don't look good!" said Yugi, who was lounging on his bed with his homework.

"Who would, after walking through that?" the former pharaoh asked, his voice scratchy. He motioned upwards toward the two feet of snow piled on the skylight in their room.

"Good point." Yugi turned to face the wall while the older boy changed out of his snow-covered uniform and into normal jeans and a blood-colored sweater. Leather really was Yugi's thing. He also got out his homework and plopped down on his own bed, opposite Yugi's. After about fifteen minutes, Yugi finished his and put it away. He cast a glance in Atemu's direction. The pharaoh had his chin in his hand, staring blankly at a book.

"Are you all right?"

"Hmm?"

"Usually you're done in like... two seconds."

"My eyes keep watering up. I can't read it."

"You don't look too hot. Do you feel all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Would Jii-chan agree with you on that?"

Atemu sighed. "Probably not. But I need to finish this reading. How can I get it all done if I can't read it?"

"You could ask me to read it to you. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

"My brain has taken a vacation. And it's three chapters, Yugi. You don't want to be cooped in here when everyone is outside."

"That's all right, Atemu. I don't want you to get another unfair detention."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Give me the book."

Atemu smiled. "Thank you, aibou."

"You're welcome." Yugi started to read, but soon became aware that he wasn't being listened to. Atemu had fallen asleep, wheezing a bit as he breathed. Yugi smiled and closed the book. He headed downstairs to the kitchen and found his grandfather making tea.

"Where's Atemu, Yugi?"

"Asleep."

"You are not serious."

"Yep. He's exhausted, so let him."

"You sound like me."

"Is that a bad thing?" Yugi countered.

"It isn't a bad thing, just a bit unhealthy for someone your age to be sounding like an old geizer like me. Tea?"

"Sure."

Sogoroku poured some of the hot liquid for both of them, and they sat down at the table to drink it and talk.

"So Atemu is actually asleep?"

"Yup. He looks like he's got a really bad cold or someting, and he fell asleep while we were doing homework."

"I knew that boy looked pale this morning! He just insisted he was fine! Noooooo, no use listening to Jii-chan!" He threw up his arms and winked at Yugi. "Much like you, eh?"

"Jii-chan!"

_Ding, dong!_

"I'll get it. It's probably the guys."

Indeed it was. When Yugi opened the door, he was greeted by no less than Jou, Honda, Anzu, Shizuka, Ryo, Mai, and Otogi. All were wearing just about as many layers as possible.

"Hi guys! How did you all get here?"

"My car," Otogi replied.

"Oh. So what's up guys?"

"Do you and Atemu wanna come out and have a snowball fight?" asked Honda.

"Atemu's asleep, but I will."

"Atemu's ASLEEP? He's either sick or posessed, 'cuz that dude's NEVER asleep!" exclaimed Jou.

"Yeah, he's sick I think. So do you all want to come in while I get my coat on?"

"Sure."

They went outside once Yugi was dressed, and the snowball war began. The teams were Mai, Jou, Otogi, and Yugi versus Honda, Ryo, Anzu, and Shizuka. It went on for hours, no one realizing how much time had passed until the sun started to set.

"Wow, it's gettin' dark! Shizuka, I'm supposed to get you home before night."

"Yeah, we'd all better go actually," said Otogi. "Everyone in the car!"

There were groans from various members of the group, but they all eventually made it into Otogi's car.

"Bye Yug'!"

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow!" Yugi walked back into the house and into his room to change into dry clothes. (A/N: Ya gotta love all the into's in that sentence.) Then he realized that Atemu wasn't in there. He put his soaked clothes in the bathroom hamper and wandered down to the kitchen. There he found Atemu seated at the table with a thermometer stuck in his mouth looking pale and sick and miserable, and his grandfather standing over him waiting for the thing to beep. When it did he practically lunged at Atemu and grabbed it out of the boy's mouth.

"You're 'just fine,' eh? Boy, do you have any idea as to your temperature?"

"Um... not really, Jii-chan," he replied in a low, croaky voice.

"One hundred and three point five! You will be missing school tomorrow, my dear boy."

"But-"

"No buts!"

"Um... There's no school tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sunday."

"Then you will politely cancel any plans you had for tomorrow."

"Wha- But my band is playing at the local Band Battle concert!"

"Then you'll have to tell Malik, Isis, Rishid, Bakura and Mai that you won't be able to go."

"But I'm our lead bass vocalist! Malik, Rishid and Bakura can't get NEAR my vocal range! Well...Rishid, but he can't sing _at all._ The electric guitar is his thing-"

"I'm sure the way you're talking, anyone could sing better than you right now," said Sogoroku. "Have you heard yourself?"

"Yes but-"

He broke off into a fit of coughing and couldn't continue speaking.

Sogoroku quirked an eyebrow. He nudged Yugi and whispered in the teen's ear, "Yet he insists that he's fine..."

"You're mean," said Yugi, remembering the times he had been sick. His grandfather could be quite scary.

"Please, I NEED to be at that concert!" Atemu pleaded, voice raspier still.

"Young man, you will be in bed, which is where I am ordering you now! Go!"

Atemu's eyes grew vicous and he quickly rose from his chair, slamming it back under the table. "Fine," he hissed. "When our band doesn't get into the Japan-wide Band War competition because our harmony's off, I'll take great pleasure in placing all the blame on you." He left the kitchen and a loud _BANG _could be heard as the door to the boys' room was slammed shut, leaving stunned silence in its wake.

"I cannot believe he just disrespected me like that. I do not believe it. He is SICK, and he still wants to perform at that concert thing. Honestly Yugi, now that he's in his own body that band is all he thinks about."

"It means a lot to him, and all the others too. Especially him and Bakura."

"Well, at least his grades aren't slipping- Wait, didn't you two get your report cards today?"

Yugi nodded. "I'll go get them." He walked slowly and quietly upstairs, easing open the door to his and Atemu's room. Atemu lat spread out on his bed, face down... shivering... no... coughing... quite possibly... crying...?"

"Atemu?"

"WHAT?" He turned sharply to face Yugi. His crimson eyes were bloodshot and tired, his cheeks flushed. His lower lip was quivering dangerously...

"Atemu... Are you okay?"

Wrong. Thing. To. Ask.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK? WE'VE BEEN PLANNING FOR THIS COMPETITION FOR MONTHS, AND WENT THROUGH THE SEVEN STAGES OF HECK TO EVEN GET IN! WE WILL BE **_CRUSHED_** WITHOUT A BASS VOCALIST! WE'RE LIKE A FAMILY, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET THEM DOWN! I CAN'T JUST GIVE UP ON MALIK AND ISIS AND RISHID AND MAI AND BAKURA FOR SOME RA-DARNED COLD!" He began to cough into his pillow.

Yugi sat down on the desk chair. "Atemu, I don't really think you're in any shape to sing-"

"I AM FINE, RA DARN IT!" He brought his face back out of his pillow, nose running. His lip wasn't just quivering anymore. He was biting down on it hard. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the rush of tears flushing his eyes clean.

"Atemu, are you okay?"

"NO! GO AWAY!" His 'shout' was really no more than a whisper, but the vehemence with which it was delivered got the message to Yugi, who grabbed both their school folders off the desk and practically ran back downstairs.

"Here," he said, rooting through the two folders for their report cards and handing them to his grandfather.

"Very good work, Yugi," said Sogoroku, looking Yugi's over.

"Thanks."

"You earned it... and now for Atemu's... Let's see..." He opened the card and his mouth crinkled into a smile. "He's done it again, I can't believe it."

"Straight ninety-eight percents or over, right?"

Sogoroku nodded. "I'm so proud to have you two as my grandsons." He hugged Yugi.

"So, how is he taking our little... _situation_ with the concert?"

"Not very well, Jii-chan. He's not very happy with you."

"Well, he's not going. He's staying in bed and getting well."

_Not according to Atemu._


	2. What it Means

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Ryo Bakura, a part of Yu-Gi-Oh, he would be cuddled so much he would be dead, and he's still alive, so...

* * *

"Yugi, Atemu! Dinner!"

Atemu, lying down on his bed, groaned and got up. He wasn't at all hungry and he wasn't in any mood to eat.

"Come on Atemu!" Yugi shouted, already halfway down the stairs to the kitchen.

"I'm _coming_," he snapped back, making his way to the door and following Yugi. He had a plan. If he acted like he was feeling fine and just acted cool, his jii-chan wouldn't think he needed to stay home tomorrow. But this was a bit of a problem when he realized he wasn't hungry, and would have to eat to make the act work.

Yugi and Atemu each sat down, Yugi digging into his food hungrily after a long day of school. Atemu found that even looking at food made him feel queasy. He stirred some potatoes around on his plate and forced some of of the creamy vegetable down before a sharp pang shot through his stomach. He winced and bit his lower lip in pain.

"Are you all right, Atemu?" asked the boys' grandfather.

"I'm fine," he replied raspily. "I just... bumped my knee on the table."

"You were holding your stomach."

"I was?" Atemu did his best to look innocent, but it was hard to do as his stomach still felt like it was being shot.

"I know exactly what you're doing young man, and it won't work. You are not going to that concert tomorrow, and that is final."

"WHA- How did you know?"

"Yugi's done the same thing countless times, except he was trying to fake _sick_. It works both ways."

"_Please,_ Jii-chan? I can't let the whole band down! We've worked too hard for this to happen!"

"You're sick, and you are NOT going. One more word of this at this table and you will not be a part of that band at all!"

"You wouldn't do that to me!"

"I would."

"Fine." Atemu slouched in his chair, trying very hard not to let his lower lip quiver. But his grandfather saw straight through him.

"You may be excused if you wish, Atemu. Just leave your plate."

Atemu did just that, and practically ran up to the boys' room, at the mercy of the sobs threatening to escape from his lips. He flung himself on his bed and sniffed into his pillow, whole body shaking with rage towards his grandfather. He loved Yugi and Sogoroku more than anyone else in the world, but they had no clue as to how much his band meant to him, and every member of it. They all had needed something solid to help them stand, and that was the ticket. They all loved music and were incredibly musically inclined. This competition was a chance they couldn't miss.

He closed his eyes and thought of what this band and this competition meant to everyone.

Malik had confided in all of them that after the Battle City finals, when the evil presence that had inhabited the Sennen Rod was destroyed, he felt lost without it. The force had been strong, and that presence was even stronger. It had been what held Malik together. Only playing his beloved drums had kept him from falling into unfathomable depression.

Isis spent the days after Battle City constantly worried about her brother and her pharaoh, the fate of the world, and how everything was going to turn out. Her heart was torn apart when her boyfriend died in a car accident, and she sought help from her friends. Her voice could be tender and soft, but carry sheer power and wrath enough to cleanly slice a mountain in two, and her soul poured itself through the keys on a keyboard like water warming ice. She was the one who came up with the band's name, _their name_, Crimson Love.

Then there was Rishid. He had a voice like a rock, but on his electric guitar, he was a whole new person. His dark eyes lit up when he played and his face would crinkle into a smile that could melt armies. What with his brother and sister falling apart and still being confused after Battle City as well, he followed the other two in finding family in his friends.

Bakura's situation was much like Atemu's. After the whole deal with Anubis rising had caused him to be placed in his old body, he felt naked without Ryo. He also felt weak as his compassionate side was revealed. He had let out his confusion and anger through his talent in songwriting, and eventually come to trust as a best friend the one he had once called, 'that baka Pharaoh.' His skill on the acoustic guitar surpassed anything of beauty Atemu could imagine.

Mai was left mixed-up and in doubt of herself after Battle City. She tried in vain to claw her way to the top of the dueling world, in fear that if she lost another duel, she would get hurt like Malik had hurt her. Her drifting, paralyzing voice and amazing ability with the drums had pulled her through those dark times, and they were helping her aching spirit to rise from darkness now.

Atemu's thoughts came to himself. What did this band mean to him? He could sing the crucial supportive low notes of any song Bakura came up with, adding into the mix raw emotion and love for his music. After getting over the shock of waking up one morning on the floor in his own body, his life had felt meaningless. His friends were only 'his friends' because of Yugi, and now that he was separate from Yugi it was becoming evident just how different the two were. Atemu was tan of skin from the Egyptian sun, as were Bakura, Malik, Rishid, and Isis, and it reminded him that this wasn't his real home. It was his home, and he wouldn't give it up to spend a split second in ancient Egypt, but he still had felt left out. That's where the band came in.

They had all found each other, all depressed and struggling, and had relied on each other's remaining strength to stay standing. They were nearly there, nearly.

And he wasn't going to give all of that up. One measly little cold wasn't going to stop him from finally breaking free of the chains that had fastened him down for months, and he wasn't going to let his friends slip back down, under silence's black cover.

Never.

A new plan began to form in his mind.

He was not going to give up.

* * *

**Electric Fire,** yeah, I know, another sick-fic... I am obsessed. Pathetic, really. But this one's actually got a plot! How many colds _can't _one guy get should be the question. See you Saturday! 

**Angel-of-the-Apocalypse,** it IS a small world, isn't it? YGO and music are MY two favorite things, too! That's kinda cool! Yeah, Atemu is grumpy... but aren't we all when we're not feeling well? Pity the poor dude, he's got a tough road ahead.

**Anonymous,** thanks for reviewing, though a name would help... but anonymous is cool too! 'Person of Mystery', ne? I'm glad you like it, and thanks for thinking I can at least semi-do humor!


	3. Plotting and Scheming

**Disclaimer:** Okay Mr. Scary Dude in a Creepy Suit, there is nothing you can do to make me say it. Absolutely nothing.

Mr. Scary Dude in a Creepy Suit: If you don't do it, I'll turn Ryo nonexistent.

Me: You wouldn't be that cruel!

MSDiCS: I would. totally straight, Kaiba-ish face

Me: Agh! NO! RYO MUST SURVIVE! I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH!

MSDiaCS: disappears

Me: That was... odd.

* * *

_Bring! Bring!_

"Hello?" Mai answered the phone in her apartment Saturday night.

"Mai?" she heard a scratchy voice ask.

"Um... yeah, this is Mai. Who is this?"

"It's me, Atemu."

"That's YOU? What _happened_, hun? Were you attacked or something? OHMYGOSH, are you all right?"

"What do you mean, Mai?"

"Your voice, you sound like you've got like, I dunno, laryngitis or something."

"That's probably not far from the truth."

"Wha- But you'll be able to sing tomorrow, won't you?"

"I'll be _able_ to, yes. But I need your help -well, the band's help really- with _getting_ there."

"What do you mean, hun?"

"Well... I have just some cold or something and Jii-chan kind of... forbade me to go. So I just need a way to... sneak out of the house."

"Oh, so you're going for the whole 'rebellious' rep, eh?"

"No, I just-"

"At least you're not too pure to break a few rules. We NEED your voice to perform Weakling of the Night. And we can't go for another song now. We've been preparing it for weeks."

"Unless, of course, we go for Rishid as the bass singer."

"Uh... He can stick to his electric guitar, but nice thought. I'll work an escape plan with the band and call you tomorrow morning, all right hun?"

"Thanks. Bye."

"See ya hun."

_Click._

_Click._

Atemu hung up the phone and placed it back on its hooky-thingymajiggerbobber in the kitchen.

_"So,"_ a voice came from behind him. Atemu winced and spun around.

"Yugi... Hello."

Yugi smirked devillishly. "Sneaking out?"

"Uh... That was the plan. But you just go tell Jii-chan and I'll call Mai back-"

"What? No way! I won't tell, as long as I get something in return."

"And what would that be?"

"Do my homework for a week."

"Deal."

"... So... how do you think you're going to do this?"

"I don't really know. That's why I called Mai for help. I mean, it's not like I can just sneak out. My hair is a bit... hard to miss."

Yugi doubled over with laughter. "Oh 'Temu, you are in trouble now!"

"Only if you tell. We trust Mai for all deeds sly, devious, or otherwise untrustworthy."

"You've got a good point there."

"I know."

"Boys! Time for bed! Especially you, Atemu! Bed, now!"

"Okay!" Yugi shouted. Atemu ended up coughing.

* * *

The Next Day: 

_Bring! Bring! Bri-_

"Mutou residence, Sogoroku speaking."

"Hey, Mr. Mutou? This is Mai Kujaku, from Atemu's band?"

"Atemu called last night, I thought. He can't go."

"Oh, he did call. I just need to... work something out with him about the performance and his part. Our other bass singer is kinda... sunk."

"All right, but don't expect to be able to hear him. He can barely talk." He put his hand over the phone. "Atemu!"

"Yes, Jii-chan?" came a scratchy reply.

"Phone for you."

"Oh yeah! I was expecting a call from her!"

Sogoroku looked suspicious. "You were?"

"Oh, um... yeah. We have a bit of a... problem with using our other bass voice."

"Okay. Here you go." He handed his grandson the phone.

Atemu took it. "Do you have a plan?"

"Of course I have a plan. I _always_ have a plan, hun."

"Good point." His voice was terrible.

"Mai? Are you there?"

"Um... Are you SURE you'll be able to sing today?"

Atemu smirked on the other end. "I'm whispering. I've been saving my voice since last night."

"I need proof, hun. Otherwise we'll have to switch to another song with either me or Isis as the lead. The judges in this thing like either bass's or soprano's, I've noticed."

On the other end, Atemu smirked. He cleared his throat and said in the loudest voice possible without being overheard by Sogoroku, "How's this? Better? And I thought you were an alto?"

"Same diff, darling. Okay, you're gonna have to sing really loudly to get over the crowd roar. Are you sure you can do that?"

"I'll be fine," Atemu reassured her, switching back to whispering.

"Okay, here's the plan. You know how Jou and Honda are each well over six feet tall?"

"You brought the whole gang into this?"

"They wanted to help... especially Anzu," she added slyly, "You two would look awfully cute together, you know."

_"Stick to the plan, Mai," _he said through gritted teeth.

"Ooh, have we found a sensitive spot in the Game King?"

"Mai!"

"Oh wow, I'm gonna HAVE to tell Anzu about this!"

"Shuttup Mai."

"Uh-huh... Well anyway, Jou and Honda are gonna have on fake beards and mustaches -Well, Jou's will be fake. Honda's will be real but enhanced by a make-up job Anzu's giving him.- and they're gonna dress in those really corny, stuffy, Kaiba-like business suits, right? And they're gonna come up to your door working for the local food pantry asking for collections-"

"What are they going to do with the money? They're not really going to steal that much from people, are they?"

"Oh, we worked out that little glitch, too. They actually ARE going to be from the food pantry, as part of their required school community service stuff that they put off 'til the last minute."

"Nice."

"Very. And I'm not even to the good part. So you'll be in normal clothes, right?"

"Well, yeah. If I get dressed like I'm going to that concert, Jii-chan will get suspicious."

"Okay. Well you know Ryo? He's about your size, so he has some of those cool black jean things and a red flame shirt he's gonna give to Jou and Honda when they pass his house asking for donations, right? And Jou and Honda are gonna hide them in their suits. Got all that, hun?"

"Just one thing- Where did Ryo get those clothes? He's never worn them."

"Bakura insisted he have at least one set of cool clothes. But anyway, you know how you turn that corner around your house and there's that really wide alleyway with that dumpster that someone as small as you or Yugi or Ryo or Shizuka can crawl under?"

"Yes?" He decided not to bring up the 'small' comment.

"Jou and Honda will leave the clothes tied in a package under that when they pass the alley, then go and ring your doorbell. So when two weird guys in suits show up, it's them. They'll sort of... extend their conversation with your grandfather long enough so you can slip out the shop's side door and into that alley. Get your clothes, then take a left, then a right, then another right through the little web of alleys, and you'll come to Cross Street. A Kaiba limo will be parked right to the left of where you emerge from the alley. Bingo."

"KAIBA'S helping?"

"Yup. He was actually a last hope, but he said he'd do it right away. He said he liked our music. Weird, I know. Join the Confused Club... But anyway, the limo's got those windows where you can see out but others can't see in, and a screen thing to prevent the driver from seeing you. So you can get into those clothes during the limo ride. The driver will be Kaiba by the way, not one of his goons. So then you'll drive to the concert hall, and you'll be there! Just make sure to bring a backpack for your normal clothes, and probably some water in case your voice goes dry or funky. Remember what happened to Malik that one time we did that gig in that little town? He had like the tiniest cold and it totally screwed him up. But then again, you've got a stronger voice. But then again, by the sound of it you're sicker than he was when that happened... but whatever... and you can use your shadow magic to hide your absence from your grandfather, and presto!"

"I'll remember everything. Don't worry"

"Okay then. Honda and Jou'll be up your way around four o'clock, plenty of time for you to get ready and get there."

"Mai... what if this goes wrong? Have you got a back-up plan?"

"Nope. So be sure you don't mess it up, hun."

Atemu gulped. "Okay Mai. See you at four. Bye."

"Bye hun."

_Click._

_Click._

Atemu walked up the stairs to his and Yugi's room.

"Got a plan?" the shorter teen asked.

"A good one. But you're going to the concert, right?"

"Yup. It's a good thing Jii-chan isn't, though. Wait! How are you gonna cover up that you're gone?"

Atemu held up his hand. A black orb of energy started glowing in his palm. "Shadow magic, Yugi. I can create the illusion of my presence, as well as toy with someone's mind. It's already in effect right now, as a matter of fact."

"But you're bound to get photographed. How will you hide that?"

"Destroying tomorrow's morning paper, also with shadow magic."

Yugi looked impressed. "Wow."

Atemu nodded. "Mai is really a genius when it comes to planning."

What Atemu chose not to think about was what would happen if something went wrong.

* * *

**Electric Fire:** Oh yes, Atemu is a bad boy. Naughty, naughty. But then again, I suppose pretending to be healthy is better than pretending to be sick... in a very ODD, twisted way. We did great Saturday and Sunday, and my mom says poor Kevin was WAY better on Sunday, though he was still really good Saturday she says. He'll probably read this. HI KEVIN IF YOU READ THIS! Though you'll sign your review under your new disgusting pen name... you are a twisted little boy. Inyhoo, back to Electric Fire, the cooler person. You'd never REALLY fake sick, would you? Not my mild-mannered friend, Electric Fire? Hehe, neither would I. -shifty eyes- 

**Pharaoh Atemu's Angel,** thanks for the compliment. You flatter me and my stinky stuff! I'm happy that you like it though. Personally, I can just picture Atemu as a singer, or on the flute if you've read my other story, Cry of the Black Magician. Music always pops into my stories somehow, I can't resist it. And most of my stuff is sappy sick-fics, so... yeah. You like how I did Atemu? Shucks, thanks. He's kinda moody though, ne? Sure I'd love to add your OC/s, just send it's/their description to me in a review or an e-mail by the next chappie or so, 'cuz the competition's gonna start VERY soon!


	4. WarmUps to Competition

**Disclaimer:** I am a female American. A male Japanese owns Yu-Gi-Oh. That's all you should need to know to figure it out that I don't own it.

* * *

_'Ding! Dong!' _the doorbell rang.

"I've got it," said Sogoroku. He walked to the front game shop door and opened it, peeking his head out. Two men, each slim and a few inches over six feet, stood in front of him. The taller of the two was holding a black pot.

"Hello sir. We're from the Main Street Food Pantry. Do you have any spare change you'd like to give to the needy?" He spoke in a husky accent, and held a collection box.

"Why, certainly." Sogoroku emptied the entire contents of all his overall pockets into the box, always being one to give to those less fortunate than himself (A/N: What a nice guy.). He didn't notice the short, skinny figure slinking by inches away from him, but Honda did. He nudged Jou and they each gave Atemu a subtle thumbs-up before the shorter boy disappeared into a dark, dreary side alley.

"Well, that's all my eighty-eight pockets. Have a good day!"

"Thank you, sir." Sogoroku went back into the game shop, and Jou and Honda sighed as one.

"He made it."

"Yeah. For a second there, I thought he'd spotted Atemu for sure!"

"Let's go finish our community service so we can GET to the concert later." They left in search of more donations.

-With Atemu-

"Phew. That was close," Atemu muttered, pressing himself against the brick of the alley wall and gasping for breath, his heart pounding. "Thank Ra. Now, where did Mai say Ryo's clothes would be? Under this dumpster..." He slid easily under the large container. A secure package had been tucked safely away underneath it. He grabbed at the package and stood up, his backpack and water in hand.

"Okay, left... right... another right..." he mouthed, following Mai's instructions. Sure enough, a sleek black limosine was parked barely three feet from where he exited the web of allies. The window of the limo's passenger seat rolled down.

"Atemu. Get in."

Atemu grunted and gave the young CEO a curt nod. "Why are you doing this for us, Kaiba? I thought you hated me."

"I may hate YOU, but that doesn't mean that your music isn't the hottest thing in town. I... I just wouldn't want you to lose an opportunity like this... a Japan-wide competition..."

Atemu had trouble picking up his lower jaw. Kaiba was being nice? What was wrong with that picture?

"Kaiba, are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"That's really what I should be asking you. You look horrible. You know that, don't you?"

"Everyone looks horrible, according to your standards."

"No, I mean, you really do look ill, you know."

Atemu just grunted indignantly.

"Hmph. Fine. Just get in so I can drive you to your concert. The button for the driver separation screen is on the inside of the door, so you can change."

Atemu got in and pressed said button and got on the clothes, which were very cool. The red shirt was a button-down, alternating orange, red and black buttons with black and orange flames creeping up the front. The black jeans matched that, and Atemu had made sure to wear his black boots that day. No one noticed, because it was normal for Atemu to wear boots. They were his thing, and luckily enough went well with the outfit Ryo had leant him. Trust Bakura to make sure Ryo didn't get completely cut-off from civilizatioon.

Seto slowed and parked the limo in front of the huge concert hall. "Are you done back there?"

"Have been for five minutes." This was followed by a grunt.

"Just making sure I didn't open the door..." Seto walked around and opened the door for Atemu, who stepped out, the backback containing his normal clothes and his water bottle clutched in his left hand.

"Your performance tonight had better be worth it, because I'm going to be there. The judges pick the bands that get in for the first few rounds, but after that, it's up to the fans. Crimson Love has my vote for now, but we'll see how you do." He drove off, leaving Atemu standing before the looming building.

"He likes our stuff that much?" he shook his head at that scary and rather disturbing thought, and entered the hall.

"ATEMU, OVER HERE!" Atemu heard Isis's unmistakably smooth, mystic tone call from across the huge front room, where tons of people were already milling about. Chords sounded, voices shouted back and forth to each other, and everyone and everything seemed out of place wherever they were, so everything moved. This was what Atemu was meant for, the noise, the competition, the exhilarating feeling of getting up on that stage and singing his throat dry. He loved it, all of it.

He walked over to where Malik, Isis, Bakura, Rishid, and Mai had claimed a corner to themselves. Bakura was strumming an aimless tune on his acoustic guitar and Mai was floating through some warm-up scales while Malik rapped away nervously on a small drum pad. A drum set was already onstage, as nearly every band had a drummer.

"How many are there?" Atemu asked in Rishid's ear, gesturing to the many different bands milling about the large front room of the concert hall, waiting to be called backstage in the order they would perform in.

"Twenty-six, counting us."

Atemu sucked in air through his teeth and swallowed hard. He winced as his throat hurt from swallowing, as did his ears (A/N: Anyone ever had that kind of flu thing, where it hurts your whole head to swallow and then you get a headache forever? Not fun, man.).

"Ugh." Atemu rubbed his temples with his fingers, trying to ease away the headache that had been nagging at him since the ride over.

"All right hun?" Mai asked, a bit worriedly.

"Yeah. Just a headache I've had for a while. No big deal."

"You don't look too good, you know."

_"I'm fine," _he said through gritted teeth. "I came, didn't I?"

"Good point. And we need to warm up, because once we get our seats in the auditorium we can't make a sound to disrupt the other bands or we're disqualified."

"How long do we have until they start calling the bands in?"

"They'll start that in about fifteen minutes, and the crowd comes in at four-thirty. The competition starts at five."

"Okay. Our usual warm-up?"

"Yup," five different voices answered, smiles on all of the voices' faces. Their warm-up was their signature. One would keep the beat -or purposely lose it- while five others would fan off into different snaking scales, round harmony feeding off the love and care of the vocalists. Even Rishid did this one, quite well too. He was actually not a bad singer; none of them were. His voice just wasn't particularly useful in much of their music.

"I'll keep the beat," Rishid offered, "Since I'm not singing much this time anyway."

"Okay," they all answered.

"_One_, two, three, four, _two_, two, three, four, _three_, two, three, four, _four_ two, three, four..."

They became so absorbed in their music that they didn't even notice as the minutes slipped by. Isis began to play along with her voice on her portable keyboard, and Bakura on his guitar. Malik tapped out the decided tempo on the wall with his drumsticks. After thirty-two measures, they came to a halt at a familiar sharp chord, different every time depending on the five that sang. Rishid's voice was a sturdy bass, Atemu's deep and similar, but commanding of a certain respect only a three-thousand-year-old Pharaoh of ancient Egypt could command. Isis's harsh, chilling tone could slice through shadow and cause a cold heart to shatter in two. Mai could dip low to skim the ocean or circle with the gulls above, while Malik's sense of flair in pitch could make a note exist in memory forever. Bakura's voice, scratchy in speech, became a vibrating steel that added a beautiful and terrible, raw, mysterious quality to Crimson Love's songs. That made them special. They were all different, so different in fact that you'd wonder how they survived without killing each other. But their love for music brought them together, and together they would stay.

"ATTENTION TO ALL BANDS AND BAND MEMBERS! WE ARE NOW CALLING THE COMPETING BANDS INTO YOUR SEATS! ANY EQUIPMENT OF YOURS CAN BE PLACED IN THE AISLE NEXT TO YOUR ROW, AND BRING EVERYTHING WITH YOU. BAND NUMBER ONE, ILLUSIONS, FOLLOW ME!"

Crimson Love was number twenty-one, quite near the end. Malik helped Isis bring her keyboard down into the dark seats, and Rishid had his electric guitar. Bakura lovingly carried his acoustic, hissing at anyone who dared accidentally touch it. The bands were all seated in a far left section of seats, an aisle running directly from the middle of the section to the stage. Each band had one minute to set up and break down. The competition was a fast-paced one, and a lot of pressure was on Crimson Love. It was a local favorite, their main rival being Wind, a mainly rock group from the other side of Domino.

Barely five minutes later, people started flooding the seats all around the nervous performers. Atemu, seated between Mai and Bakura, felt his pulse quicken and his heart catch in his throat. Only three bands of the twenty-six trying out tonight would be judged fit enough to carry on with the competition. Three. He coughed into his fist,Isis startling at the sudden noise from Atemu, who had been silent since they had warmed up.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, fine." His voice was terribly hoarse.

"You sound awful. Take a drink."

Atemu fished his water bottle out of his backpack and took a sip. He cleared his throat. "Better," he asked in a much clearer, deeper voice.

"Much." Relieved, she turned back to her conversation with Mai.

"I think that you are a very lucky baka pharaoh," said Bakura, again strumming a bit on his beloved guitar.

"How so?"

"You get the flu and you can still talk. Ryo got it a while ago and we had to invent a new form of sign language just to communicate. At least we were already fluent in it by the time I caught his flu from him." The ex-tomb robber snorted. "You are a very lucky baka pharaoh indeed."

"It's NOT the flu. I'm fine," Atemu insisted indignantly. But his arguement was missing a bit of its usual vigor. His head had begun to spin... and spin... and spin...

"Are you okay? Your eyes look dead." Bakura laughed at his own bad joke. "Three thousand years dead, possibly."

"I'm just dizzy. Probably just all the noise... and the excitement... mmph." He held his head in his hands.

"You love this noise and excitement if I'm not sorely mistaken, Oh Wonderful Pharaoh."

Atemu smirked. "That's right, tomb robber. Bow to your pharaoh." The two shared a laugh.

"I'm glad those times of hate are over between us, Atemu. I mean it. After Ryo, you are my best friend, and the world just seems so much more worth it now that I have friends, and music..." said Bakura, barely audibly. "I'm thankful to you for showing me some light."

Atemu was speechless. He'd never expected to hear such words from Bakura. But he couldn't help but think that the way Bakura had slowly come out of his harsh, cold shell reminded him of something...

He wasn't granted any time to think, though, as the announcer's voice blared through the concert hall's sold-out seats, "BAND NUMBER ONE, ILLUSIONS, WILL YOU PLEASE TAKE THE STAGE. BAND MEMBERS, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ANY EXCESS NOISE WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION. ALL MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE ARE ASKED TO NOT FIGHT IN THE AISLES..."

It had begun.

* * *

Bit of a short chappie, I know, but what is a lowly fangirl to do? WRITE! 

**Electric Fire,** Kaiba has his own reasons for anting to help them. Kind of... ODD reasons, but it'll all be explained in time... LONG LASTING time, but time... Oh by the way, in your review of Cry of the Black Magician, which will not get updated for maybe half a week to a week, you asked if he had tb. I say: Sure, why not? BobGod asked the same thing, and it's only gonna take like another two or three colds or a flu to kill this poor dude off, but if you want to... I dunno.. envision it as tb, darn tootin,' it can be tb! I have given up! Yeah, you do end a lot of sentences with '...' but so do I! It's kinda cool, how magnetic those three little dots can be... ARG!

**straykitty,** don't worry, I won't neglect my coughothercough stories, or Cry of the Black Magician if you care about that too. This one just seems to be going quicker for some odd reason. Heh. Yeah, generally I try to talk with my tongue not bitten... it helps... Oh man, he is going to be in MAJOR trouble if coughWHENcough he gets found out, but by that time he'll have bigger problems on his hands and maybe Jii-chan will be sympathetic, if I'm in a good mood when I come to that part. No, he's gonna be more concerned about his voice actually existing, the way I have it planned... I feel evil!

THANK YOU BELOVED REVIEWERS! CONTINUE TO REVIEW PLEASIES! Peace out-BlackCharmgirl


	5. Weakling of the Night

**Disclaimer:** If you asked a five-year-old boy to tell their favorite story, nine times out of ten they end up quoting, not fairy tales that no one owns, but Yu-Gi-Oh. Would you sue that five-year-old? No? 'Cuz he's just playing around. He doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, he's just content chewing his gum and ruining his 500-card deck and wasting all his money on that piece of disappointing junk they call Yu-Gi-Oh the Movie. Same here. Don't sue me please, because I'm just a fangirl.

* * *

As the band Illusions hurried to set up their gear in the one-minute time limit, Atemu felt his stomach twist itself into a knot. 

"Atemu, are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine."

"Is our Oh-So-Wonderful Ancient Pharaoh, what, _nervous_, maybe?" taunted Bakura.

"I- ... ARG!" Atemu leaned forward in his seat, clutching his stomach. "I'm just... dizzy..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Isis put a calming hand on Atemu's shoulder. "It's just pre-performing nerves, leave him alone." She looked worried. "You're shaking."

"I- my stomach-" He stopped as he felt a cool hand on his forehead.

Isis took in a sharp breath. "No wonder Sogoroku didn't let you go. Feel his forehead, Bakura."

"Yikes! You baka! What did you do to Ra to make him burn within you! If you're carrying some curse-"

"It's a fever, you idiot," said Mai, seated on Isis's left. In a row from right to left, Bakura was in the aisle seat, then Atemu, Isis, Mai, Malik, and lastly, Rishid. They took up exactly one row of the left-most section of seats in the huge concert hall.

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Isis in a soft tone.

"Well, seeing as I'm already registered to perform tonight, and they closed the doors to the outside, it doesn't really matter." She just looked him over worriedly.

"Isis, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

She nodded, but her eyes remained clouded.

"BAND NUMBER ONE, ILLUSIONS, IS NOW READY TO PERFORM."

The lead singer of the band, a short, cute guy, walked up to the microphone. "Before we begin, I'd like to dedicate this song to a special someone. So this is from me, Pippin, to my best, most loving, caring, wonderful fangirl ever, the amazing Elf." He blew a kiss to a pretty blond girl in the front row, and then the band revved up.

Atemu didn't hear them. He leaned back in his chair as the world spun around him in a tight circle. He was falling... falling...

"Atemu! Wake up! Wind is on and you need to know how to sing to compete with them!"

"Wha- huh? Where am I- oh. Did I... fall asleep? At a ROCK concert?"

"Yes, and Wind is on in just a second- Oh man, you look pale..."

But Malik's voice was drowned out by the first chords of a hardcore rock song pounding through the huge room. Atemu clutched his head as the 'music' made it ache and throb. "WHAT NUMBER ARE THEY?" he yelled in Bakura's ear.

"NINETEEN! WE'RE UP AFTER THE ONE UP AFTER THEM!"

Atemu nodded his understanding and listened. Wind was known for their electric guitar player, a tall high shcool senior with dark skin and cold, unfeeling eyes. Rishid's eyes never left the other instrumentalist's guitar through the whole song, and the sturdy Egyptian only relaxed when the twentieth band came up on the platform to perform a swingy song that had Mai snorting by the end.

"How did THEY get into THIS competition?" she asked, snickering.

"Well, they were good, just... not great."

"NUMBER TWENTY-ONE, CRIMSON LOVE, PREPARE TO PERFORM."

"That's us. Let's go." As band number twenty took their seats in front of them, the members of Crimson Love filed onto the huge, brightly lit stage. Atemu and Mai took the standing microphone in front and quickly positioned it the way they needed it to be while Malik helped Isis with another in front of her keyboard that both she and Bakura would use, as the two of them both sang and played. A mic was already set up in front of the drum set onstage, and Malik rushed to make sure everything was to his liking as Rishid scrambled to plug in his electric guitar and strum med a bit to make sure it was in tune. Atemu and Mai were front and center on the stage, flanked by Rishid a bit farther back and to the left, Isis and Bakura on the right, and Malik in the back with his drums. Mai took the microphone.

She nodded to Atemu and he looked back towards the rest of the band. They all nodded back to him and he began to sing as Rishid slowly crept in with his guitar.

_I am alone,  
__All alone,  
__Wandering alone...  
__Wandering... a-lone-_

Now he was joined by Mai, Isis, and Bakura, their three voices countering each others' perfectly, weaving masterfully through Atemu's lead. Mai started off with strength, Isis soared over it in a mysterious wave, and Bakura split downward, coupled with Malik, to plunge further down into the song's depths. The electric guitar backup swung into a crescendo and the acoustic followed, creating a great echoing feeling throughout the hall. Malik brought the beat to a solid rolling tempo as Isis's fingers spun out newly crafted tones.

_Through hills of blackness,  
__Waves of sorrow,  
__No looking back now,  
__No to-mo-o-o-row-  
__I am a weakling of the night.  
_

_Take me away,  
__To rise again,  
__My time is up,  
__My heart is spent,  
__I search for something solid,  
__Only to realize,  
__It wasn't meant to be,  
__An illusion of my eyes-_

They crescendoed again in perfect harmony, then slowly decrescendoed as Rishid and Malik ran off into an echo of the main vocalists' words, the song taking on a thrillingly mysterious, ocean-like quality.

_Through hills of blackness (blackness),  
__Waves of sorrow (sor-sorrow),  
__No looking back (back) now,  
__No to-mo-o-o-o-row-  
__My wings are broken,  
__And I can't lift off,  
__As a black arrow shoots me,  
__The blood is not enough-_

They faded out completely until Rishid came in-

_You weakling of the-_

Then he was cut off by Bakura and Isis alternating versus of a fast-paced rap.

_I'm like a ghost,  
__Floating around,  
__No one to care for,  
__And horrors abound,  
__I am see-through,  
__Nonexistent,  
__Try to break my shell 'cuz,  
__I'm love-resistent,  
__My heart has been slaughtered,  
__My head chopped up,  
__I'm wandering down,  
__No lookin' up,  
__So venture near me fool,  
__If you dare,  
__For my presence comes with a warning:_

The two came together in harsh tone-

_Appraoch with care-_

Then Rishid's deep voice stepped in:

_The weakling of the-_

And now Atemu:

_Me, the weakling of the night..._

Now Mai, Isis, and Bakura sang the melody, backed by Atemu, with Malik pounding his drums and Rishid knowing nothing other than his guitar.

_No light shines through,  
__I'm covered up,  
__In a blanket,  
__All tied up,  
__My heart is pounding,  
__I shiver and sneeze,  
__And wait for the pain  
__To be released-  
__Oh-  
__WEAKLING of the... night..._

Now Isis came in solo, fingers weaving themselves through measure after measure on the keys of her keyboard and mystic voice reverberating through the hall.

_Feelingless I venture...  
__Into the dark of the night...  
__My eyes are rendered useless,  
__I'm swallowed by my plight,  
__No one hears me scream for help,  
__Miles and miles away,  
__So I keep on walkin (walkin) _Malik echoed,  
_Through- this- night- of- day-_

They all came together again,

_Through hills of blackness,  
__Waves of sorrow,  
__No looking back now,  
__NO TO-MO-O-O-O-O-ROW...  
__FOR THIS WEAKLING- of the... night..._

They ended, voices breaking off systematically from deepest to lightest each measure, Rishid... Atemu... Malik... Bakura... Mai... until only Isis remained, continuing the tone along with the last of the keyboard and guitars until the song came to a perfect halt.

The crowd went wild screaming, clapping, and whooping as the grinning members of Crimson Love gathered their equipment and quickly left the stage to tumultuous applause. The members of the band that had played before them only glared as the six took their seats. The rest of the concert seemed empty to the crowd compared to what they had just heard, but now it was up to the judges.

As the last performers took their seats, the five judges could be seen whispering and passing notes. After a few minutes, the head judge, a short, portly, balding man stood up, a piece of paper in his hands. The room went silent.

**"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce to you all the three winners of tonight's performance, the three that will move on to the other stages of competition throughout all of Japan-"** He broke off as screams erupted out of the seats, and waited for it to pass.

**"After I have finished announcing the winning bands, will the three winners please locate me to recieve your passes for the regional tournament. In third place, Katag and the Katagers, from the town of Gokora!"**

Shouts filled the hall as a tan highschooler, followed by his band of instrumentalists, stood up and bowed to the audience.

**"In second place, Hopeless Wanderers, from Relaco!"**

"What?" Mai hissed. "I thought it would be, like, Wind or something."

Isis nodded and Malik replied, "They're very good. I think both us and Wind got in the top four, by the way the judges whispered after we played."

They all realized what Malik meant. Both Crimson Love and Wind were in the top four. There were three winning spots. And the members of Wind were staring daggers at them.

The war was on.

**"And the number one performance was-"**

* * *

Oh yes, I am EVIL to do that to you all! Me is evil! But you can all probably figure out who it'll be, I mean, if they lost it wouldn't be much of a story... or WOULD it, tee hee hee hee... 

I actually have an actual tune that goes to Weakling of the Night, and I timed it as well. It's three minutes and twenty-one seconds.


	6. Beginning of Problems

**Disclaimer:** Take a wild guess at what I'm gonna say in about two seconds. Okay, got it? One... Two... I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. So? Did you guess right? I certainly hope so, or you have forced me to question the IQ of my readers, and everyone who's on fanfic usually is an aspiring author of some sort, making them intelligent, so if you force me to question your IQ, that's sad.

I am in a very bad mood, as you can tell from my... harsh... disclaimer. I am a bit disappointed with the numberings they put on the episode downloads at , becauseI thought I was loading Steppin' Out aka The Fiery Dance Battle, because generally YGO 53 means the fifty-third episode, meaning Steppin' Out aka The Fiery Dance Battle. But after twenty minutes of waiting for it to load, it turns out to be audio only for some weird reason, and also the wrong episode. It's actually number 55, where they go and get the duel discs. I HATE that one! Joey/Jounouchi has WAY too many annoying lines in that one, and I mean, at least he's a LITTLE smart in the Japanese, and all that little bit of intelligence goes down the drain in the USA version, and... ARG! And my family just went out to eat at this restaurant... I shared a pepperoni pizza with my little nii-chan... I practically choked on all the grease on that stuff that the restaurant must have imported illegally and called pizza.

Hehe, I was just watching a Japanese raw version of that rooftop Duel with Lumis and Umbra versus Seto and Yami online, and it's actually pretty funny how deep Kaiba's voice is in the Japanese, yet he doesn't have a beard. Heh.

Ick. On with the fic. And yes, my mood is going to have an effect on Atemu's mood and condition, but then again he hasn't exactly been in a good mood through this whole ficcy, now has he? Actually, he's quite a bit of fun to torture. If you're ever in a bad mood, take it out on a convenient three thousand year old pharaoh. It's oddly satisfying, especially if you're feeling evil and sadistic, which is actually not a bad feeling come to think of it. It makes you feel powerful.

BTW, when I wrote the words and music to Weakling of the Night, I wasn't feeling well, had just gotten my unbelievably crappy school picture back, and was just... in an ICK mood. Plus I had Bring Me to Life by Evanessence, which, BTW, I don't own Mr. Lawyer, playing over and over in my little portable CD player thing, so that probably influenced the way I wrote it, too.

* * *

**"CRIMSON LOVE!"**

A huge wave of applause broke out from the crowd as the six band members glomped each other, ecstatic.

"WE DID IT! WOO-HOO!"

"YES!"

Bakura and Atemu hugged, tears running down each of their faces.

"HOLD IT!" Bakura shouted, and pushed Atemu away.

"What?"

"One, you touched the guitar. No. One. Touches. The. Guitar. Two, I. Do. Not. Hug. People. Three, especially in public after we kick another band's butt to oblivion and I actually _have_ a reputation to destroy. And four, you'e sick and I don't particularly feel like catching whatever you've got, Oh Wonderful Pharaoh."

Atemu got him with The Glare. Hard. And added an Atemu-Grunt as a side note. "Hmph. Fine."

"Good." Bakura mock frowned, and then the two burst out laughing. That is, until Isis turned from Mai and hugged Atemu tightly around the waist.

"WE DID IT!" She shouted in his ear. Atemu blushed madly as Bakura looked on, hysterical with laughter. He only stopped when Atemu started to cough from Isis's tight embrace and showed no signs of stopping.

"Um, Isis?"

"Yes?"

"You might want to loosten up just a bit on 'Temu. After all, he IS just a baka pharaoh. Not too much should be expected by way of his 'Survival of Isis-Hug' skills."

"Huh? Oh- Oops. Sorry Atemu."

The shorter of the two choked for air. "That- That's okay," he gasped out. He was extremely pale, and his eyes looked glazed over, Bakura noticed, just as they had earlier.

"Are you all right?" Isis asked quietly, seeing this as well.

"I don't feel well," he breathed, falling back into his seat with his head in his hands. His eyes scrunched shut and his tanned features twisted sharply. "I-I feel sick to my stomach."

"Are you going to puke?" asked Bakura, guarding his guitar.

Atemu didn't answer for a few seconds as his breath came in rattling heaves. A deep choking sound came from within his throat. "Yes."

Isis stayed calm, but her eyes showed evident panic as Atemu clutched his stomach in pain. She took his hand firmly. "Come on," she commanded, voice strong and unwavering. She fled through the crowd with Atemu in tow, towards the back of the hall, until they came to the back door where a plump doorman marred their way.

"I'm sorry miss, but I'm not allowed to let anyone out until- WHOA! Is he-"

"He's Atemu Mutou, yes, and he's going to throw up in mere seconds if you don't let us outside, sir."

"Well..."

But he didn't get to make a decision. Isis grabbed his arm and shoved past him through the door, dragging Atemu out the front hall to the sidewalk outside, and around into a side alley. He fell to his knees and retched, vomit falling in nauseating torrents from his mouth. Isis knelt next to him and held his shoulders until he stopped, giving one final heave and coughing painfully for nearly a minute. He fell limp, palms on the ground for support.

"Are you all right? Are you done?" She carefully lifted his chin to face her and took a tissue packet from her purse. "Here," she said, handing it to the sick teen. "Clean yourself up, and then we can go back inside."

-Inside-

Bakura gasped as Isis fled past him. Mai saw this.

"What happened, 'Kura?"

"Atemu's sick."

Mai looked worried, imagining where Isis must be taking him, suddenly more than understanding the reason for her haste.

"Isis IS brave."

"She was Atemu's High Priestess in a past life, how could she not be?"

"Good point."

"Very good, I know."

Mai rolled her eyes. "You are hopelessly full of it, do you know that?"

Bakura smirked that Bakura-Smirk, the one that reminded her of his slightly insane, sadistic, evil side. She shuddered. "Don't DO that, Bakura!"

He chuckled deep in his throat, succeeding in creeping Mai out even more.

"ARG! You are WEIRD!"

"I know."

"So, what do we do now?"

Rishid and Malik overheard her, and Rishid answered, "We wait for Isis to get back with the pharaoh -er- Atemu, and then we go and get a competition pass from the head judge."

"Oh."

Just then, Isis could be seen walking briskly through the aisle to their seats, Atemu clinging to her for support. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing hoarse, and he was quietly moaning. Bakura and Mai rushed to her, followed by the other boys.

"What happened?" asked Rishid, taking the small figure from Isis.

"Get back to our seats, and try to seem natural," she hissed under her breath. "We're attracting attention." Rishid and Malik nodded, filing back into their row and seating Atemu between them. Bakura silenced any curious looks from the other performers seated near them with one of his famous death glares. Only Atemu's could beat it.

After the entire audience had exited the hall, Crimson Love, Katag and the Katagers, and Hopeless Wanderers, the three winners, walked up to the judges' table to receive their passes for the rest of the competition. The short, stubby head judge walked forward to greet the three bands.

"Congratulations, all of you! Here are your passes for the rest of the competition, and I wish you luck. "Katag and the Katagers?"

Katag and his band of exotic instruments stepped forward and took from the head judge a plastic card with a little picture of a bronze cup on it, their band name hastily scribbled across the front in one of the judges' messy script. A similar card, but with a picture of a silver cup, was handed to the members of Hopeless Wanderers, and the judge handed to Isis one with a gold cup.

"Thank you," she said, bowing slightly to the judge.

"You're very welcome." He smiled. "The competition information is printed on the reverse sides of all your cards. Good luck in the regional round!" He turned and walked up the aisle, out the door of the hall, the three bands following him outside. Rishid and Malik helped Atemu to walk.

"Mai?" Atemu asked weakly.

"Yeah, hun?"

"You know how the plan was for me to walk back through those alleys and sneak back into the house through the side door?"

"Yeah?"

"Um... I c-can't." He shivered, sweat visible on his brow. Rishid tightened his grip on the smaller's arm.

Mai gasped. "What do we do?"

"ATEMU MUTOU!"

The entire gang whirled around as one to see an enraged Sogoroku Mutou rushing towards them. Atemu swore under his breath in _colorful_ choice words of his native ancient Egyptian tongue. Isis, Rishid, Malik and Bakura, all of which understood him, tensed. Mai figured out that he was in deep trouble by the tone of his voice.

"ATEMU MUTOU, DID YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD HIDE YOUR ABSENCE FROM ME BY USING SHADOW MAGIC?"

"Uh... that was the plan." he hung his head, cheeks burning. Suddenly, he took in a sharp breath. "Oh no."

"WHAT?"

"Isis, remember what happened earlier?"

The ancient High Priestess gasped and wrenched her Pharaoh from her brothers' grasp, dragging him back into the alleyway they had been in not twenty minutes ago as he promptly began to retch painfully on the ground. The rest of the gang rushed into the alley, Atemu continuing to vomit until his stomach felt it would throw up his insides if he kept puking like the was.

"YOUNG MAN, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO YOURSELF!"

Atemu coughed weakly, fighting to keep his arms from buckling underneath him where he knelt on the ground. A strong arm caught him just as his elbows gave way, and he looked up into Isis's concerned features. "I owe you, Isis."

"No, you don't." She gently pulled him up and turned him so he could face his grandfather.

"I-I'm sorry, Jii-chan." He coughed, chest rising and falling quickly.

Instead of reprimanding him as Atemu was expecting, Sogoroku held out a hand for Atemu to lean on. "I felt the shadow magic and pressured Yugi about it once he got back from the concert. Let's go home; I can always yell at you later. Right now you need to rest and get well." He smiled kindly. "But first, are you sure that you don't need to... stay outside a bit longer?"

Atemu shook his head.

"All right then. The car's this way."

"Bye guys," Atemu whispered hoarsely.

"Bye 'Temu. Can we call you later?"

Sogoroku answered for Atemu. "You can, but judging by the looks of him, he'll be asleep," he said, chuckling as Atemu moaned in protest to this. But already the boy's eyes were drooping, and he clung desperately to his grandfather's hand for support in walking.

Atemu's condition was the least of the band's worries, as they were soon to discover.

* * *

**Electric Fire, **you really don't wanna hear it. I had Evanessence on the brain... and rap... and jazz from band class earlier... and I was listening to Evanessence and some of my Japanese music was playing on the compy... I love that stuff. But if y'all REALLY wanna commit songside and hear it... I'll sing it at the next auditions. BTW, talking aboutECT reminded me of Kevin. He's on here now, by the name of Psycho Psykid. The only problem is I've tried all forms of that on the search thing and according to that he doesn't exist, which really bites. But his first story will probably be YGO, so I'll just keep looking through the YGOs every day until some form of Psycho Psykid shows up. I doubt he spelled it right though; he's a horrible speller. Whatever. 


	7. Wanna Bet?

**Disclaimer:** If I owned this, what I wrote would be the actual plot of Yu-Gi-Oh. As far as I know, Atemu isn't a singer in a band in the actual Yu-Gi-Oh. Correct me if I am mistaken, please.

* * *

_"Achoo!"_ Atemu sneezed, lying down on the couch in the Mutou living room. Sogoroku, arguing over TV channels with Yugi, watched Atemu blow his nose miserably. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. 

"You shouldn't have gone to that concert. Look what's happened."

Atemu coughed, readjusting his position on the couch with weak arms. He replied in a scratchy voice, "I'm sorry Jii-chan. I just... I couldn't let the rest of the band down, not after everything we've been through to get in this competition. And I won't be able to sing anyway, with my voice like this." He coughed again and shivered, pulling his blanket tighter around him. _"Achoo!"_

Yugi and Sogoroku finally settled on a channel they both liked as Atemu grabbed for another tissue, only to find the box empty. The elderly man chuckled as he watched Atemu continue to sneeze and fall back on the couch, thoroughly exhausted. He walked to the bathroom for another box and brought it back to the living room, nudging the once-pharaoh with it. Atemu's eyes pried themselves open and he offered his grandfather a weak smile in thanks, hastily taking one and blowing his nose quietly. He leaned back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

_Ding, Dong!_

"I'll get it," stated Sogoroku, getting up from his seat. He walked to the front door and opened it. "Hello?"

"Hi Mr. Mutou."

"Anzu! I haven't seen you in... two days! Come in!"

"Thanks," she said, respectfully removing her shoes at the door. "Can I say hi to Atemu and Yugi?"

"Sure. They're in here." He lead her into the back room, where Yugi sat watching the music channel they had settled on and Atemu rested with his eyes closed.

"Who was it Jii-chan? Oh, hey Anzu!" Yugi said, turning from the TV. "How's it going? Did you like the concert?"

"Oh yeah, it was awesome!" She cast a glance in Atemu's direction. He had curled up slightly and his breathing was slow and rhythmic. She softened her voice. "Is he all right?"

"Oh yes, just a nasty bug. He should have stayed home, as I advised him," Sogoroku answered the lanky brunette.

Suddnely Atemu's eyes jerked open and he shot out of bed, raced in the direction of the bathroom and closed the door sharply behing him. Yugi winced as gagging sounds came from behind the closed door.

"He's been throwing up every half-hour."

"Oh, poor guy."

Yugi nodded, turning his attention back to his music station on TV. A few minutes later Atemu shuffled back into the room and laid back down on the couch, shivering and pulling his blanket closer around him. It was all twisted up from his leaping around a few minutes previously. Anzu reached a hand forward, her eyes glistening with worry.

"Here, let me help you." Atemu looked up quickly at her voice.

"Oh, hello Anzu." He blushed. "I didn't see you before."

"Yeah... Would you like some help with untwisting that?"

"Um... okay."

Yugi, seeing that both teens were extremely red in the face, smirked. "Jii-chan, will you help me with my homework?"

"Sure, just bring it down-"

"_How about we go upstairs?"_ Yugi asked pointedly, nodding his head ever-so-slightly to where Anzu had helped Atemu untangle his blanket and was perched on the end of the couch. Sogoroku followed Yugi's eye line and looked confused for a second. Then his lips formed themselves as if to say, _"Oh,"_ and a playful smile crossed his lips.

"Okay, let's go then." A bit louder, he said, "Atemu, I'll be helping Yugi with his homework upstairs if anything happens, if you get really sick or something... bye." Yugi and Sogoroku hurried out of the room.

"So... how are you feeling?" Anzu asked tentatively.

"Um... well, I'm existent and alive, so I guess I can't really complain, can I?"

"No, I guess not..." She leaned back a little on her end of the couch near Atemu's feet. "Um... do you need anything?"

He shook his head, his eyelids drooping. He coughed and shivered. "No thanks. I'm just tired."

Anzu smiled. "I know the feeling. Do you want me to get you another blanket?"

"If it's not any trouble... they're in the space under the TV."

"Not at all." She dropped to her knees in front of the television, opening up the drawer under it, and pulled out a fuzzy brown blanket that looked warm. Standing up again, she draped it over Atemu's shivering body. He weakly tried to help, and each blushed furiously as their hands touched.

Atemu looked up to see Anzu's blush. "Oh, I'm sorry..."

"No, that's all right..."

Atemu chuckled, and ended up coughing. "I'm not much of a good host, am I?"

"That's all right. Don't beat yourself up about it. I wanted to come to see you."

"You... did?" He coughed again, turning his head away from the girl in front of him until the rough coughs stopped coming.

"You okay?"

He nodded weakly, falling back onto his pillow.

"...Anzu?"

"Yes?"

"Uh... Don't be offended please, but... I can't keep my eyes open. I'm still listening to you though." _I'd always listen to what she has to say._

"Hey, you don't have to apologise to me. We're all sick at some point or another. Just rest so you can get better, okay?"

"Mm." He nodded and settled into a more comfortable position. "So, what did you think of the concert?"

"Oh, you guys were awsome! Who wrote that song? It was really beautiful, you know."

He smiled softly, that kind, enchantingly drifting smile that caused moths to flutter in Anzu's stomach and never failed to pull up the corners of her mouth to match his. "It was mostly Bakura and Isis for that one. They're amazing working together on music."

Anzu nodded her agreement, then remembered that he couldn't see her. "Yeah. And you were awesome with that singing. I loved it..." She watched his cheeks tinge bright pink, and he pulled the blankets farther up over his face.

"Hey, do you think maybe we should check your temperature? You're really flushed..."

"Oh- No, I'm fine- I mean- It's not that- Um... Jii-chan already took my temperature! Yes, um- Yes, it was one hundred and two point seven right before you came, and I-I doubt it's changed much," he offered hurriedly, sounding nearly panicked.

"Okay... Hey, will you be able to sing in the next round of this thing?"

His teeth bit his lower lip. "N-No. Not at this rate. I'd need to get better by next Sunday... and Jii-chan doesn't think that will happen. And if I do get better before then, my voice would still be too hoarse to sing well, and if I performed with it like that it would only get worse. They're going to do one with mainly high voices singing all the lyrics with Rishid taking my place in the underlying ostinato we have going, and hopefully my absence won't show. But in a competition like this..." He suddenly looked weak. "I just don't know." His lip was now far beyond quivering, and Anzu felt his whole body rattle violently. "It's not fair that this has to happen! We've worked so hard for this!" He shouted huskily, and began to sniffle quietly.

"Hey... It's going to be all right..." Then she did something that surprised them both, leaning over and giving him a tight hug. "Isis told me all about it, and it'll be okay."

"Just 'okay' though, Anzu; we don't have a choice anyway. This band... for the six of us, it was life for a while. Right after Battle City, when Bakura and I got our own bodies, and Isis's boyfriend died, and Mai was depressed, and Malik didn't know who he was anymore... we were just all so... scared. You've never woken up one morning on the floor to find yourself separate from your light half... It's scary..." Tears slipped down his tanned cheeks and landed on the blanket as soft sobs escaped his throat. "I'm sorry... What a great friend I am, falling apart on you like this..."

"Don't think that. Don't think anything like that. I'm your friend, and I'll always be there for you. How many times have I cried in front of you?"

"Yes, but that's-"

"No. Don't beat yourself up. You're sick and tired and the world hasn't been fair to you. You have plenty of reasons to cry. It's okay."

"Th-Thanks Anzu..." He choked on his words and began to sob. Anzu kneeled before the couch and took him into a comforting hug. After a few minutes his cries subsided and he pulled away slowly.

"Thanks, I-"

"Don't say anything. Just rest now, okay? I want you to get better. And I know you don't have the strength to argue with me, so just lean back and relax." She took a tissue from the box on the coffee table and wiped at his eyes, drying the tears.

"Anzu... you don't know how much that meant to me..."

He drifted off into a peaceful sleep and Anzu smiled. She got up to leave, as it was getting late anyway, but something stopped her, something felt... incomplete. She leaned forward and kissed his flaming forehead softly, whispering, barely audibly,

"_Wanna bet?"_

* * *

So? Y'all like fluff? I hope so. 

**Electric Fire,** yes, it is a cold world, but the arms of our bishies will always remain warm! To our bishies! Hope you didn't mind that pointless fluff-filled chappie... I was in the mood for fluff today. Yeah, math is evil, and technology that won't work isn't very technological, now is it? Or useful, either. The Atemu-grunt, yeah. You know how in Cry of the Black Magician he uses The Glare a lot? Well I got a review and they said that usually whenever he uses that Glare in the anime, he grunts afterwards... do there we go! Instant humor!

:uses Atemu-Glare and Grunt:

**Black-Caracal**, I'm glad you think it's great! I checked out your bio, and you REALLY, REALLY love music, don't you? So do I! Weakling of the Night actually has real tune and all that, but it's pretty horrible. Do you play an instrument? I play trumpet and recorder, mainly trumpet but recorder when the spirit moves me, ne? And I think this chapter answered your AnzuAtemu question, eh? Hope it wasn't a disappointment, I'm pretty bad at romance...

THANK YOU MY WONDERFUL, BELOVED REVIEWERS! I LOVE Y'ALL!


	8. Girls and an Apology

**Disclaimer:** Okay, if I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, Atemu and Anzu would be in a more-than-friends relationship, as would Jou and Mai. Ryo would be the main character after Atemu and Yugi, Anzu wouldn't be turned into a ditz in the English dub, and Jou would have SOME intelligent lines in the dub. In fact, the dub wouldn't exist, making it impossible for Anzu to be a ditz and Jou unintelligent, which he isn't. Not intelligent, but not UNintelligent. Oh yes, and Mai would have some real clothes, Rebecca would stop hanging after Yugi unless Yugi wanted HER, Professor Hawkins would have a better suit than that might-as-well-be-pink thing, and Sogoroku would NOT wear pink in the early undubbed series. Then again, they would ALL be undubbed:ahem: That has been my disclaimer rant. Those are actually quite satisfying!

* * *

Yugi entered the living room late Monday evening, cordless phone in hand. Atemu was sleeping in the living room so as to be closer to the downstairs bathroom, as the upstairs bathroom was far from his room and he was still puking every half-hour. 

"Phone for you, 'Temu," he said, handing Atemu the telephone and leaving the room.

"Hello?" Atemu asked into the instrument, uncomfortably readjusting his position on the couch. He hadn't puked in a while...

"Atemu?"

"Uh, yeah, who is this?"

"Hey man! It's Honda, don't you remember me? Your old buddy Honda, from... here and now!"

"Oh, hi Honda. Sorry, I've just been... ugh. I've been a little out of it today..."

"Hey, that's okay man. I was just talkin' ta Yugster, and he said you've been feeling bad. So what's up?"

"Not much-" Suddenly his stomach gave a hard lurch and he felt his throat clog up. _Oh no._ "HondacanyouwaitaminuteI'mgoingtobesick!" he yelled into the phone as he made a mad dash for the bathroom. (In case y'all didn't catch that, he yelled, "Honda, can you wait a minute? I'm going to be sick!")

"Okay..." Honda drawled needlessly, straddling his chair by the telephone in his apartment for about four minutes, until he heard a small cough and a raspy, "Hi," on the other end.

"You all right, man?"

"Yeah... I was just... well, yeah."

"That's okay, dude. I know the feeling. Stomach's gotta empty itself one of two ways, and it just chose... the way that doesn't taste that great. I get it."

"Ugh. Oh, please don't say that."

"What, the part about it not tasting that great, 'cuz that's just truth, man, or the part about me knowing the feeling, 'cuz that was meant to comfort you ya know."

"No, you knowing the feeling is fine... Anzu said something like that earlier today actually..."

"Anzu was over there?"

"Yeah..."

On the other end of the line, Honda could pretty much picture his friend's glazed expression at the moment, and from that image of his face he could pretty much tell what Atemu was thinking. _"Oh. So, what happened with... you two?"_

"Nothing... Wait, What do you mean?"

"Well, you've liked her forever."

"HAVE NOT!" He began to cough from shouting in his haste to defend himself.

Honda smirked from his end. "Have, man."

"I HAVE NOT!"

"And that's why you're screaming at me- Well, trying to scream. More like some sort of whisper, but it's a scream for you. So, what happened?"

"I TOLD YOU, NOTHING!"

"Dude, I can see you blushing from here."

At that moment Atemu felt his cheeks flush. " I AM NOT BLUSHING! AND I DON'T LIKE ANZU!"

"Tell the truth, man, or I'll get Jou and Otogi over there and we'll torture you into telling."

"Okay... maybe a _little_ bit..."

"Sweet! I knew I was right! I'm gonna tell Jou-"

"HONDA, NO!" But Honda had hung up. "Uck." He coughed and pressed the button to turn the phone off, laying back down. "And then Jou'll no doubt tell Anzu... ARG!"

Sogoroku came into the living room then. "Everything okay? How's your stomach?

"I just threw up a minute ago, so it's okay for now."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Honda."

"Oh? And what did he want?"

"Nothing... He was just calling..."

"Just calling?"

"Yeah..."

"May I be so bold as to ask what Honda was 'just calling' about?"

"You can ask... Your answer might be... bent in a certain direction."

"Well then, if you won't tell me, I'll go and ask Yugi."

"Huh?"

"He was listening on the other line."

"WHAT!" At that second Yugi entered the living room, a huge smirk on his face.

"YUGI MUTOU, IF YOU BREATHE A WORD OF THAT CONVERSATION TO JII-CHAN-"

"Calm down. I'm just going to use it against you whenever you try to get me in trouble."

Atemu fumed. "You are an evil, posessed devil incarnate."

Yugi smiled. "I already knew anyway, and I think Jii-chan does too... Of course, I might have had something to do with it...him knowing I mean..."

"Maybe you should save yourself the trouble and just tell me," Sogoroku suggested.

"Hey, maybe Jii-chan could even give you some advice," said Yugi.

"What do you need advice on?" the elderly man asked.

"AskingoutagirlIlikewhoHonda'sgonnatellJouaboutandthenJou'sgonnatellheranywaysoImightaswellaskherout," he reeled off, all in one breath. (By the way, that was, "Asking out a girl I like who Honda's gonna tell Jou about and then Jou's gonna tell her anyway so I might as well ask her out.")

"Say that again. My hearing's not what it used to be, you know."

Atemu's cheeks became redder than the tips of his hair. "I want to ask Anzu out," he said in a barely existent whisper.

_"Oh."_

"What IS it with people in this century and the word 'Oh' when we're on the subject of girls?"

"No, it's just when YOU'RE on the subject of girls, Mou Hitori no Boku."

"You... called me by my old name."

Yugi shrugged. "It seemed to fit better. So how do you want to ask her out?"

"Well-"

_Bring, Bring! _He was cut off by the ring of the telephone, and he answered it since it was right next to him.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Atemu?"

"Anzu?" He saw Yugi and Sogoroku exchange smirks and sent them a Glare, care of the Atemu-Grunt.

"Um, yeah it's me... Jou just called me..."

_Uh-oh. _"Yes?"

"And well... He said Honda said you said that... you liked me... and I was just wondering if that was true, so I didn't feel uncomfortable every time I saw you..."

"Well um... there's only one way for me to say this really, um... Willyougooutwithme?"

"A- Are you serious?"

"Yes... I am."

"Sure. Um... when and how?"

"Do you like that arcade, not the one we went to when we met Steps Johnny, but that bigger one on the other side of town, with the restaurant next to it? We could go to the arcade, then out to eat."

"Oh, I'd love that!"

"All right then, um... but we'll have to wait a while, as Jii-chan won't let me get out of bed unless it's to throw up or eat."

"Yeah, that's okay. Just get well, all right?"

Atemu smiled. "I will. And you can call Jou back and tell him, too. I'd bet he'll choke on whatever food he's eating when you call him."

"You know, I think I'll do that! Well... bye then!"

"Bye." Atemu hung up. Yugi and Sogoroku were each beaming at him.

"Well done!" his grandfather exclaimed, clapping the boy on the back. He stopped when Atemu bagan to cough, and pulled away. "Whoa there," he exclaimed as Atemu proceeded to practically cough up a lung.

Yugi smiled. "Wow, how did you _do_ that? Do you think you could give me some advice?" He realized what he'd said only after it was too late to take it back.

"Oh? And who's the girl, Yugi?"

Yugi blushed crimson. "Rebecca..." he mumbled. He was surprised when Atemu just looked bored. "Hey! What's wrong with that?"

"Oh nothing, except I won't have to use any creativity with my advice. Just ask her straight up and she'll say yes."

"She will?"

"Definitely."

"Cool... Hey Jii-chan, can I make a call?"

"Who to?"

"Um... Rebecca... they're staying here in Japan for a few years now." He blushed furiously as his grandfather chuckled.

"Sure." Yugi took the phone up to his room, dialing the number on the way. Sogoroku shook his head.

"Now, look what you've started. I have girlfriend complications to deal with now!" He sighed heavily, but something gleaned in the old man's eye that conveyed to Atemu another, lighthearted yet strong emotion.

"Gomen nasai Jii-chan," Atemu murmered, curling up on the couch and closing his eyes.

Sogoroku sat at the end of the couch, much like Anzu earlier, and laid a hand on his grandson's side. "I'm proud of you."

Atemu couldn't quite find a reply to that. His grandfather had never said that to him before. But apparently Sogoroku wasn't expecting an answer.

"You know, I think I misjudged you, and your emotional capabilities. I owe you an apology for that."

"What do you mean?"

The old man sighed. "When you first became separate from Yugi, I realized just HOW different the two of you were. I was used to just seeing you whenever Yugi played a game, I never really realized that you were so... real, I suppose you could say. Then you got involved in that band, and it turned into your life, practically... I didn't realize how confused you were feeling about being separate from Yugi, being yourself, and I didn't realize that after three thousand years, you'd probably forgotten how to be yourself, especially living as Yugi... You two are the same age, different halves of a soul even, and whenever I looked at the two of you, I honestly saw the same person."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Yugi has always been one to be more... quiet, modest... small, in both the physical sense and... in the way of what he... sends out... in thought... and he was always optimistic, even over being realistic, I must admit, and when he started dueling, and doing so well, I was so proud of him... but whenever he dueled, he would turn commanding, and when I realized it wasn't he, but you... I was... scared. I feared you, Atemu. You were nothing like the little Yugi I'd always known... and human fears whatever we know not of... and you were so mysterious, always disappearing promptly after one of Yugi's fights. So I... I blocked you out, and just focused on what YUGI did. That was a mistake. I knew perfectly well that you existed, and that you radiated power that could not be ignored, but I chose not to believe it."

"Hm?"

"Well, in forcing myself to believe in only Yugi, when you... became embodied... I expected you to be just like my Yugi. I expected you to be the same happy Yugi I'd always known. I didn't realize how hard it could be on you, when you were..." He tried to think of a better word than 'moody,' which he didn't think would spark a good reaction. "... acting troubled. I didn't realize what you were going through. Being a seventeen-year-old for three thousand years must have been... difficult... and being in that puzzle, with only your own thoughts to keep you company... that must have been hard, but I ignored it. So when you began to not eat, and spent all your time just singing... I was harsh to you. And I want to apologise for what I've done."

"Jii-chan, I-"

"I'm sorry, Atemu. I'm sorry for everything."

"You didn't mean it, Jii-chan."

"But I want to apologise, to allow my soul to rise from what I've been carrying. I'm so sorry."

"I- I accept that, Jii-chan. Thanks," he replied huskily, curling up into a tighter ball, exhausted. For a few minutes they were silent, until Atemu's steady, wheezing breaths filled the room.

Sogoroku tucked the blankets closer around his grandson. "Sleep well, my child. Sleep well."

* * *

Sorry, but I HAD to write another fluffy chappie! We return to actual plot soon though, I promise! 

**Black-Caracal,** lead alto sax, eh? Cool! I played trumpet in my jazz band last year, but I had too much going on this year, acting, show choir, soccer... Did you like the fluff? It's a little flat in this chapter, but... fluff reminds me of Ryo, and Ryo is just so fluffy... I LOVE RYO!

**Electric Fire,** yeah, I agree. Fluff all around! The abbot hears a cry for help, and in an instant he becomes... KINGMAN! I LOVE that! Maybe Ryo should try that out... mmh, let me bask in that thought for a second... Yeah the lines where he says "DAMN YOU BAKURA, are either changed to The Grunt or "BAKURA..." in the translated manga in Shonen Jump (It's directly translated in the graphic novels.), and "BAKURA..." in the anime to fit the way his mouth is moving better. But in the Japanese, he's like, every two seconds, "DAMN YOU Bakura!" Quite funny actually. Hmm, Yami's turning into a potty mouth... NOT a good sign... If the fate of the world depends on a potty mouth's choice... ouch, I think we should try buying bomb shelters in bulk! Just like our keyboards!


	9. Tiny Troubles and Performing Plans

**Disclaimer:** Do you think the owner of Yu-Gi-Oh would be writing FANfiction? FANfiction, I repeat, FANfiction! I am a FAN, people!

* * *

_Bring, Bring!_

"What IS it with the phone in this house? Yugi, can you get that?"

"I've got it," Atemu called scratchily from the living room. He pressed the button on the cordless phone, which he had stopped bothering to put back on its hook. He'd gotten six calls in the last half-hour alone.

"Hello? Mutou residence," he barely whispered into the instrument, having lost his voice from constantly talking for the last couple hours.

"Atemu? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Could I ask who's speaking?"

"It's Rebecca! What happened to your voice? I saw you win that concert thing the other night, and you sounded fine then."

"Well... _sounded_ is the key word in that sentence."

"Oh. Can I talk to Yugi?"

He smiled. _Finally, a break._ "Sure. Just let me get him. Congratulations by the way, Yugi was worried he'd never get a girlfriend because of his height. But I have to say, you two look good together."

She giggled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. YUGI! PHONE FOR YOU!"

Yugi poked his head around from the game shop in front, which he was watching. "It's actually for me?" he asked with a smile and a fake gasp.

"Yes, here. It's Rebecca. Would you like me to watch the shop for you so you two can talk?"

Yugi smiled appreciatively. "Thanks." He took the phone from the other boy and headed upstairs to his room. Atemu eased himself off the couch and walked unsteadily into the shop, still in his sweatpants, slippers and an old shirt. Oh well. No one would see him much from behind the counter anyway. As soon as he got properly settled on the stool behind the counter though, he had to stand up again, as the bells on the door jingled.

"Kame game shop, how can I- Oh, hi Anzu."

"Hey." She walked up and leaned on the counter. "Feeling better?"

He shrugged. "I haven't thrown up in a few hours, if that counts for anything."

"You sure still SOUND sick."

He cleared his throat in order to talk. "Well yes, you might too if you'd been on the phone for three hours straight."

"Funny, I didn't exactly have you down as that kind of person."

"Do you already forget how I asked you out? By the way, I think Jii-chan will let me out of the house by Saturday at the latest. Would you like to... well, you know..." He blushed furiously. "Well, how about Sunday?"

"Sure! I'm glad you're feeling better. Do you think maybe you'll still be able to sing at your competition Saturday evening?"

He bowed his head. "Not by a long shot, no. It would hurt my voice too much to take that risk. I'll just have to wait out this round-"

"ATEMU! PHONE FOR YOU!"

"What IS it with the phone in this house?" the boy in question asked, imitating his grandfather.

"I don't know, but at this rate YOU'RE going to end up the one paying the phone bills. It's Isis, something about an important... something-or-other." he handed Atemu the telephone. "I'll watch the shop now. Oh, hi Anzu."

"Hey Yugi," she replied as Atemu cradled the phone between his shoulder and his ear, walking through to the house part of the Kame game shop.

"Isis?"

"Yes, it's me. You know how you've got some really bad bug or whatever?"

"Yes, I'd say that I could tell... throwing up every hour kind of tells you something's not quite right..."

"Well, Bakura just called me, and his voice was nearly as bad as yours, and he ran from the phone because he felt like he was going to be sick. You two were together all of Friday, so... it's not surprising. Most infections and things take a while to show their symptoms, and by then you'll have already gotten others sick, so..."

"Oh Isis, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I know you didn't, but now we're down our two strongest male voices, and a guitarist if Bakura can't make it at all. The plan was for him to at least go to play guitar, but if he's throwing up every half-hour like you've been doing, that's just not possible."

"Oh no. What are we going to do?"

"I-I don't know, I really don't." Her voice was no longer that smooth, melodious tone, but choppy and bubbly; she was on the verge of some serious tears. No, scratch that. She was crying. "And Malik's having girlfriend troubles and won't do a thing I ask of him, and if he carries that mood through our performance... The song we've picked isn't exactly a 'depressed' one, I mean..."

"Isis. Listen to me. _Everything is going to be all right._ I think we should call a band meeting, maybe with a couple of our other friends, too. No, not a band meeting. A meeting with the whole gang. They've been more than supportive, and maybe they can help. Don't ever give up, Isis."

"O-Okay. Where... and- and when?"

"I think here and now would be best, seeing as the next round is on Saturday, and it's Monday. We only have a few days to work this out, and the sooner the better. Can you call the band, and I'll call the rest of the gang, and we can meet at my place as soon as everyone gets the call?"

"All right. Thanks 'Temu." _Click._

Anzu entered the room. "What was that all about?"

"Bakura's sick, and Malik's fallen into one of his moody phases, and those never fail to have plenty of effect on Isis and Rishid. We're calling a gang meeting. The band and all our other friends." He coughed, tired from talking so much, and collapsed the living room couch. "I just don't know what we're going to do."

* * *

Twenty Minutes Later: 

Atemu, Yugi, Isis, Ryo, Malik, Rishid, Mai, Honda, Anzu, Shizuka, Jou, Otogi, and Sogoroku were all sprawled out in various crazy positions around the Mutou living room. Well, everyone except Isis, Atemu and Sogoroku. Isis didn't _sprawl,_ Sogoroku was really just interested in why everyone was suddenly so serious, and Atemu was shifting around on the couch, extremely uncomfortable. His stomach was flipping around and bubbling, his throat burned, he had a headache, and his chest hurt from coughing. And Bakura was in the bathroom, throwing up. And he needed to throw up. NOW! He jumped off the couch and made a mad dash for the upstairs bathroom, barely making it in time as his stomach emptied its contents into the handy-dandy toilet. A few minutes later, after brushing his teeth and grabbing a box of tissues, he walked groggily back down to the living room, blowing his nose on the way. Bakura was back from HIS trip to the bathroom, looking nearly as miserable as Atemu.

"Can I have a tissue 'Temu?"

"That's what I brought them down for. Knock yourself out." He set the box on the coffee table in front of where Bakura sat on the couch, and took a seat next to his friend. Everyone else kept their distance from the two.

"All right everyone, um... yo," said Jou, the self-appointed leader of their meeting. Atemu would have done it, except his voice was on the verge of nonexistence, and Isis would have, but she would probably choke on all her tears of anguish. So Jou had stepped up to help his friends.

"Okay dudes, we've um... we're all... um... gathered here today... yeah, that sounds good... we've all gathered here today because Crimson Love's gonna get its butt totally whooped off its hinges if we don't figure somethin' out to help. So um... anyone got any ideas?"

Silence.

"Geez, what a talkative crowd. Makes me realize just HOW quiet it is when I'm not talkin'... but inyhoo, come ON people! THINK of something! Ryo, you're supposed to be all that 'modest genius' stuff, what do you think?"

"Well... I don't know. Bakura can't play his guitar... maybe we could get someone to substitute for him? That's allowed, guests playing with your band... Why are you all LOOKING at me like that?"

"Dude, YOU can fill in fill in for Bakura! You look just like him, you're basically the same size, you can sing awesome, AND you can play the guitar! No problem! You know, I don't know why you didn't join the band in the first place... I mean, you're just as good at singing and guitar as Bakura-"

"On that huge stage? Um... Jou, I don't know... There'll be an awful lot of people watching... I have horrible stage fright Jou, I don't even sing in front of you guys..."

"Oh come ON! They need a singer and a guitarist, and you're both! It's perfect, Ryo!"

"But I- I don't-"

"Man, do you wanna help your friends?"

"Well, yes, but... Yes, I'll do it. But my voice isn't nearly as deep as Bakura's. How will that work out? I'm not really very close to his range."

"We can work that out," Mai cut in. "He's our lightest male voice anyway, and we can make yours work."

"Yeah," Malik agreed. "You just need to remember that you can't be shy onstage. Just forget yourself and perform on instinct, not rule, and you'll do fine."

Poor Ryo's head was already spinning.

"Oh, and we'll need to get you another set of _real_ clothes, too, since Atemu just wore your only good set in the last concert," Bakura said, smirking.

"Fine. Just no leather, all right?"

"Deal. But flames, odd stitching, artistic rips, not-average buttons, multi-buckled boots, collars, spike bracelets and other jewelery of the like are in."

Ryo sighed. "All right. For you, Bakura."

The older smiled devilishly. "All right _indeed._ Oh, this will be fun!" Then his face clouded. "But... one of you will have to help him shop... I can't go around puking on new clothes," he said glumly, while Ryo looked triumphant.

"Malik, could you go with him so he doesn't end up getting a mini-skirt or something?"

"Can do," the blond Egyptian replied. "And there's no time like the present. Ryo. You, me, mall, cool clothes, now." He left, smaller boy in tow.

"Yeah... that was... weird..."

"At least we've GOT a singer..."

The air tensed.

"Don't you think Ryo's a bit too... conservative to be doing this? What if he faints from stage fright?"

"You don't know Ryo," Bakura answered to Mai's comment. "He's too stubborn. Don't worry about a thing."

"Maybe one of us should coach him, still, like a mentor type thing?"

"I could do that, I mean, I LIVE with him-"

"NO!" every voice in the room shouted in response to Bakura's suggestion.

"Sorry hun, but YOU and teaching just refuse to fit together in my mind," said Mai. "But... What about Atemu?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're really good, and you're gonna be home anyway, and you're practically best friends with the kid... and you're closer to his height, less intimidating than, like, Rishid, for instance. I think you'd be perfect to do it."

"Okay, but if he needs a voice coach I won't be able to do much. Someone else will have to do that."

"I can coach him on that," said Isis. "He's very good on his own, he just needs a little prompting. And Bakura, you can help him with guitar."

"Are your decisions final?" Jou asked in a meeting-leader-like-way.

"_Yes,_ Jou."

"All right then! Meeting adjourned and all cases resolved!" He got up from his seat on the floor. "Hey Yug'? Got any food?"

* * *

Well. Yeah. Right. So. Sure. Uh-huh. Yes. Good. Fine. 

So, what'd y'all thinkies? A bit boring, I know... but did the fluff in the earlier chapters make up for this one's stinkiness? Kinda sorta? Not really? No? Didn't think so. Oh well.

**Electric Fire,** where would the fanfiction world be without you? Always a humor gal! How could Yugi NOT be fluffy? Seriously, think of ONE SECOND where his mere presence isn't full of fluff! Can't, can you? Yeah, he'd probably puke all over us... darn. Oh well! At least if his barf gets on our keyboards, we have them in bulk! Just open up another one and BOOM! That reminds me of the genie in Alladin, "Poof! Whadda ya need? Poof! Whadda ya need? Poof! Whadda ya need?" Ne?

**Ninqe, **wow, you flatter me! Yeah, my characters tend to do quite a bit of blushing, and playful banter stuff, flirting... yeah! Actually, you just might be able to hear Weakling of the Night! I read your bio, and at the end you said, "Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours..." hmm, you wouldn't happen to go to EJHS, would you? I mean, that line is exactly what people say at my school on the PA system every morning... do you go to my school? That's just a huge coincidence. If you don't, where else did you hear that line? Thanks for reviewing!

**Black-Caracal,** YOU'D BETTER DUCK MY BLOWS! RYO IS THE SWEETEST THING THAT EVER EXISTED! WHACK, WHACK! Hehe, sorry. I just LOVE RYO! Ahem, as you can see. But I definitely do associate fluff with Atemu, too. Mmh, yummy fluffiness... mmph. Allow me to bask in fluff for a moment please! .

**straykitty,** wow, thanks for all the reviews! You're amazing! I look in my inbox when I get home from school, and lo and behold, I'm swamped with your reviews! Not complaining though, what author doesn't LUV reviews? Yeah, there was quite a LOT of fluff, wasn't there? I LOVE FLUFF! FLUFF REMINDS ME OF RYO! GO FLUFF!


	10. Foreshadow

**Disclaimer:** Hmm... Well, let's see. Let me pull out my handy dandy Rules for Being the Owner of Yu-Gi-Oh book. Guy? Nope. Japanese? Nuh-uh. Rich? In. My. Dreams.

* * *

"Come on Ryo, we've got a long day ahead of us! You need to learn how to shop!" 

"But I-"

"Nope. Come on. In here." Malik had lead Ryo into the biggest mall within twenty minutes of Domino's perimeter, and had dragged him into an accessory store. "Okay, you'll need a few chains, maybe a collar, possibly a fake earring... nah, forget the earring thing; you're feminine enough, um... here." He jammed a shopping basket into Ryo's arms. "Oh man, I have a great idea!" He proceeded to throw seemingly random items into Ryo's basket, but he actually had a plan. He thought he was to be commended for this little bit of genius, too. Yes, commended, definitely. Malik the Genius. That did have a nice ring.

When he had proceeded to fill the basket to bursting with chains and the like, he turned to the terrified Ryo. "Okay, now put the basket on the floor."

"Just do it!"

"All right... If you say so..." Ryo obediently dropped the basket. "Now what?"

"Now you close your eyes, reach in and pick five random things. What you reach for is what you keep." He smirked at the boy's horrified expression.

"Atemu doesn't wear any of this stuff! Why are you making me?"

"Atemu's naturally cool, he doesn't need it. Plus he's got the hair, the muscle, and the voice to have him set for life. We could all learn from Atemu. Now, pick."

Ryo reluctantly closed his eyes and reached a hand into the basket. Thinking he might as well get this over with, he drew out five small packages. He re-opened his eyes and looked up into Malik's smiling face.

"You have done well, my young padiwan." (N/A: Star Wars ain't mine.)

Ryo forced himself to look at what he'd picked out. Three chains, a collar much like Yugi's usual one, and a studded bracelet. "Ugh."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad! Now onto the outfit!"

_This is going to be a long day,_ the imprisoned boy thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Mutou residence: 

Everyone except for Isis and Anzu had left for home, and Yugi had busied himself with cleaning up the mess everyone had made with a few thousand pounds of food. Sogoroku walked in.

"What _happened_ in here?"

"Just the guys," Atemu replied, looking up from where he and Isis were working on a new song, Anzu looking on while also making conversation with Yugi and helping to clean up. Suddenly Anzu shook Atemu's shoulder. "Look! It's snowing!" The four others in the room turned as one to watch the wondrous element bathe their world in purity. Isis smiled. "Maybe you two should change your date to ice skating. It's great out on that pond near the high school, especially when it's snowing. Pierre used to take me there all the time, until... well, you know. She blinked rapidly at the memory of her old boyfriend, soon-to-be-husband, who had gotten hit by a car the day after he'd popped the question. Anzu rubbed her friend's back.

"It's all right, Isis. It's okay to cry." Atemu nodded his agreement.

"It makes you feel better, too. He gave her a tight hug and sent a message to Anzu with his eyes to convey that it was only to comfort her. Anzu understood and smiled. "It'll be all right. It'll be all right." Isis sobbed into her friend's shoulder until her eyes dried themselves out, then pulled away quickly.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I mean..." She glanced worriedly at Anzu.

"No, I get it," the brunette replied. "We all need to cry sometime." She smiled in Atemu's direction. "Even the Game King."

Funny how Anzu's thoughts could be so prophetic.

* * *

With Ryo and Malik: 

"Can we go YET?" Ryo asked, after nearly four hours of shopping. The two had compiled three chains, a collar, a studded bracelet, a pair of blood-colored pants of some shiny, unknown-to-man-thus-far material, and a black shirt reading "Rocker Dude," on the back side of the shirt.

"Not yet, my young padiwan. You still need shoes. Like Atemu's, I think."

"Why can't I just borrow a pair from 'Temu?"

"You know, that might not be a bad idea. What's your shoe size?"

"Seven," Ryo mumbled.

"Man, you have WAY too small feet!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot..."

"Oh well. I think Atemu's that size too, so you two can be midgets together." He flipped open his mobile phone and speed-dialed the Mutous' number.

"Yo, Atemu there?... Yup... Uh-huh... Hey 'Temu, what's up man?... _Oh,_ so when are you two going?... No it's just when YOU'RE on the topic of girls, my friend... Yugi said the same thing? I guess great minds think alike, eh?... Yeah, that too- Wait! Hey, you just royally dissed me! ARRRRG!... Yeah, whatever. So I'm helping Ryo shop, and could he borrow a pair of your boots for the concert, you know, thoseones with the multiple buckles, and the brass button things, that come to a point at the end, you know... seven... You're a seven and a half?... Close enough. What a loser though, half-sizes are for dopes... So what if I'm a ten and a half?... Yeah, whatever. Bye."

"Yeah, you can borrow his. So, is that everything?"

"I'd say so. Ugly jewelery, icky pants, odd shirt, and a humongous hole in my wallet... yes, that's all."

"Just so you know, it's hard to be really sarcastic with that light voice you've got."

"What exactly is wrong with my voice?"

"Nothing, it's just... light."

"And?"

"Never mind. Let's go." They exited the he mall to where Malik's motorcycle was parked outside. Malik got in front and threw Ryo a helmet over his shoulder. Ryo climbed on and clung to Malik for dear life as the older teen started to barrel down the main drag, whooping crazily the whole way.

"MALIK! You psychotic evil nutcase! You're going to get us killed!"

"And I should be scared because...?"

Ryo sighed. "Just drop it."

* * *

With Atemu, Yugi, Isis, Anzu, Sogoroku and soon-to-be Ryo and Malik: 

Atemu coughed as he assisted his grandfather in preparing their dinner, which Isis and Anzu were staying for upon Sogoroku's insistence.

"Wash those hands again, young man."

Atemu continued to cough as he made his way to the bathroom sink and scrubbed his hands with soap. As he finished his nose decided to itch, and he sneezed.

"Again, Atemu!"

He sighed and turned the water back on as Anzu walked in, face spread in an ear-to-ear grin.

"Geez, you're in here every two minutes."

He nodded and smiled. "By now, your food will be part hand soap."

"Hey, I can take that. It was really nice of your grandfather to invite us to stay."

"Yes..." He smirked suddenly.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Maybe I can pull a few strings with Jii-chan and we can go out tonight."

"Are you sure you're up to it? I don't want to make you sick or anything."

"Well... I really want to... Well, you know..." He blushed madly, and Anzu grinned.

"All right then. It's fine with me."

"I'll ask now. Maybe you should stay in here, so he doesn't think you put me up to it or anything... By the way, have you... told your parents?"

"Yup."

"What... did they think?"

"Oh, the usual parents thing... 'Who is this 'Atemu Mutou' fella? Why is his hair like that? Does he waste all his money on hair products? Is he a useless bum? Does he commit robbery or murder on a daily basis? Why does he want to go out with you? Has he ever been in jail? From under which rock did he crawl?' (Hehe, you're right Electric Fire!) Your normal parent reaction."

He sighed. "But they didn't... have a problem with it?"

"Nah, they've seen you save the world on TV too many times."

He chuckled. "Okay, well, I'm going to go ask Jii-chan, and you should stay here and pretend... well... I mean..." His already-scarlet blush deepened.

"I get it. Just ask. And good luck!" she called after him as he headed to the kitchen.

Sogoroku was chopping carrots for the salad. "Jii-chan?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering... Well, my fever's better now, right?"

"Better than it's been, I suppose. Here, rinse the lettuce."

Atemu took the head of lettuce form his grandfather and rinsed it in the sink. "And my voice is in working condition, right?"

"Yes."

"And I haven't puked in hours now, and my stomach feels fine, actually I'm hungry-"

"What are you getting at? And you're NOT hungry, that's a lie. You're holding your stomach."

Atemu looked down at his hand, which had involuntarily placed itself over his slightly sore stomach. "Well, the point is that it's a lot better now. So I was wondering... Could I take Anzu to that arcade tonight, instead of waiting for the weekend?"

"Always impatient, aren't you? Well... Let me check your temperature first, and then we'll see. Where is Anzu, anyway?"

"In the bathroom. I passed her on my way out- _Achoo!"_

"And now you shall be going back in. Hands, washed. Now. When Anzu gets out."

He made his way back to the bathroom, sniffling, and knocked on the door. Anzu opened it. "So?"

"He wants to take my temperature first, and if he dubs me healthy we can go."

"Oh, that's so great! I'm so excited!" She looked down at herself, modestly dressed in stylish black boots, jeans, and a pink turtleneck. "I'm not really dressed for an arcade, though."

"That doesn't matter. You look great in anything. "Look at me." He was in jeans, black sneakers and a red shirt. Come on, let's go so Jii-chan can just take my temperature and we can get on with it." He finished washing his hands and dried them, and the pair walked into the kitchen where Sogoroku was holding a thermometer. Atemu obediently took it and stuck it into his mouth, waiting impatiently for it to beep.

_Bleep!_

"Hmm... ninety-nine... I don't know, that's four tenths of a point off..."

"_Please_?"

"Oh, all right. Just stay warm."

"Thanks." He rushed to get his and Anzu's coats, and helped her with hers. She giggled. "You're such a gentleman."

"Only for a deserving lady." He shrugged his own jacket on and took her arm. "Bye Jii-chan."

"Hold on, young man!"

"What?"

"You need to make sure I approve."

"Huh- Oh." He smiled, leading Anzu into the kitchen and stood in front of Sogoroku. "Well?"

"Hmm... That's a tough one... Yugi! Isis!"

The two, who had been talking in the living room, appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "What do you you think?"

Yugi smiled and gave Atemu a thumbs-up, and Isis hugged Anzu. "You two look terrific!" Yuugi exclaimed.

The new couple blushed. "Can we go then, Jii-chan?"

"I don't know, It's a bit too fun to torture you... Maybe I should keep you here..."

"Yes, and it's not too often you get the King of Games to blush!" a light male voice called from the door in back of Atemu and Anzu. It was Ryo, Malik right behind him. Sogoroku chuckled at Ryo's words.

"Yes, that IS true... All right, go then." He laughed as the two exited through the side door.

"Sorry about that, Anzu," Atemu apologized once they were outside.

"That's okay. Now let's go!"

He smiled, taking her arm. "That sounds like a plan."

We all know that plans never work out, though. Hence the word, _'plan.'_

* * *

Am I evil, or am I EVIL? 

**Black-Caracal,** you don't have to LEARN how to sing, just sing what feels natural. If you can play lead alto sax in a jazz band, you can sing no doubt. That's how I dance. I'm a lot like Anzu in that sense, except she's good and I stink, but I dance around m house morning to night anyway! Of course Ryo is starting to grow on you, he's an adorable, cute, blue little fluff ball! I LOVE him! He's just too fluffy for his own good, really...

Ah my dear friend **Electric Fire,** I TOTALLY AGREE about the hikaris! Fluffiness all around! GO YUGIRYOANDMALIK! Go YUGIRYOANDMALIK! We need banners: FLUFFY HIKARIS FOREVER! Of COURSE Ryo was going to save the day, he's just a wonderful little ball of fluff! You tend to be able to predict the course of my stories, and it's starting to scare me, you know...

**Ninqe,** no it wasn't a typo with the EJHS thing, darn. I live about... 1500 miles from you. Oh well. Yeah, actually the song they're going to do IS a love song, and Ryo's gonna be perfect for it too... plus there's gonna be some ACTUAL romance too, between him and... someone. He's just too fluffy to leave out of a romance-y fic! Yeah, isn't Electric Fire's site great? I printed out the Ryo pics, and they're front and center on my newly erected Ryo wall in my room... Oh yeah! And yup, I'm just writing this as I go along on my twisted merry way, but... I'm gonna go with it! And I don't mind long reviews, actually I love them! I write them too. .

Aww, thanks **Ksaturn**! I love Anzu and Atemu together too! And COME ON, they're together ALL THE TIME in the anime and manga, us fanfic writers shouldn't have to write all the action! But alas, he has to leave for the afterlife... so I shall write AnzuAtemu fluff to no end! How did I come up with this?Well actually it started out as one of my hundreds of sick-fics, and then when Sogoroku tells him to cancel his plans I was GONNA just have YugiAtemu or AnzuAtemu fluff for the weekend, with a fluffy ending, but then I thought the unthinkable- ACTUAL PLOT! If you can call this fluff fest a plot...

I'm glad you like it **Sailorsun195,** and I update this one like... every other day, so you shouldn't have to wait too long.


	11. Atemu's Date

**Disclaimer:** Take a wild guess as to whether or not it's mine. Who's name is on the covers of all the manga? After all the anime episodes? In all the interviews? Tell me, is it spelled more like, "Kazuki Takahashi," or like, "BlackCharmgirl?" Takahashi? I thought so too.

* * *

"Ooh, there it is! I'll race you!" Anzu shouted, spotting the neon sign advertising their destination far up the street.

"Your legs are longer than mine! That's not fair!"

"But you're just as fast-"

"If you insist!" Atemu fled on ahead of his date, Anzu hot on his trail.

"Atemu Mutou, I will get you!"

"In your dreams!" He sped up even more, his lithe form swiftly dodging between passersby on the sidewalk. Panting, he reached the entrance to the arcade. Anzu came up seconds behind him. "You're too fast for your own good, do you know that?"

"Yes, but it's useful to be able to do when little Yugi needs to run to catch the bus. I can pull him along."

"Whatever."

They stood there for a minute, just panting and smiling. "Shall we go in, then?"

"Yeah!" They walked in together, and Atemu noticed how the lights of the arcade's many blinking games reflected in her eyes, creating the effect of her eyes being multicolored. They were large and round and glowing and fit perfectly with her broad smile.

"What are you staring at? Do I have something on my face?"

"_Just the most beautiful eyes in the world,"_ he whispered under his breath.

"You-You think so?"

He blushed deeply. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah... But yours are pretty nice too..." Their gazes met and they stood locked in a staring contest, each taking in the beauty of the other's face, until Atemu found something within himself tugging at him. He was the Game King, and here was a whole arcade of new games to ace, and what better time to kick someone's butt at a hard game than on a date with his longtime crush?

"Do... Do you want to play now?"

"Oh yeah! Let's go! Which first?"

"Good question... I know. Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm going for the whole 'Man of Mystery' persona."

"Okay then." She trusted him as he held his hands over her eyes from behind and led her through the swarms of people to the very back of the arcade, to the only game no one had the courage to show off their skills at. He stepped onto the raised dancing platform and removed his hands.

Anzu blinked as her eyes re-adjusted to the bright light of the arcade, then took in her surroundings. A smirk suddenly graced her features, a playful thing of wonder that unleashed chilling sensations and ordered them to fly up and down Atemu's spine, torturing him and teasing him that he had no control over them.

She pressed a few buttons on the pad. "You're on."

Many eyes watched them as the music started out, a slow, easy beat. They moved on their separate pads as one, smiles on each of their faces. As the music quickened its pace Atemu found himself totally giving into the wonder his heart felt, his feet moving automatically underneath him as he allowed his body to press into nonexistence, swallowed by glory and emotion, passion and thrill. He was dancing, in his favorite arcade, with a beautiful girl. And he hadn't messed up yet. He knew that Anzu would be the eventual winner, but he let himself just love the moment.

Meanwhile, Anzu wasn't so sure she was going to win. She had never actually seen Atemu dance; Yugi never did and Atemu had just gotten his own body and mastered using it, but he was _good._ She watched his form carefully as the two continued to fly through the song, feet tracing intricate patterns on their respective platforms. Now the beat had sped up to a nearly impossible tempo, each of the pair exerting themselves to the point of collapsing. Atemu caught Anzu up in his arms amidst shouts and whoops from the crowd as the dance battle ended and the word 'TIE' flashed across a screen in back of them.

"That... was... amazing..." Anzu panted, blushing furiously, both from the exhilaration of dancing and from the fact that Atemu hadn't set her down yet. He offered her a hand and led her back into the still-applauding crowd, finding two seats for them.

"Would you like a drink?"

"Sure."

He walked to the soda bar on the far side of the arcade, coming back with two orange sodas, each of their favorite.

"Thanks," she murmured, taking a sip of the cool liquid. She eyed him as he popped the tab on his own can and took a swig, coughing quietly as the cold liquid hit his throat.

"Are you all right?"

He cleared his ticklish throat. "Yes. I loved that."

Anzu nodded. "I never knew you were a dancer, you know that?"

"Neither did I."

She cracked a smile and laughed, and he just looked baffled.

"What? What is it?"

"Your face! You look like Jou after the English teacher uses a four-syllable word!" She snorted into her drink as he just looked more confused. Then his eyes softened.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, that depends on how you define 'bad.'"

He shook his head, taking another swig of his soda. Then he smiled devilishly, seeing an open seat for a racing game. "I'll be right back." He slid into the seat next to another teenager about his age and slipped a few yen into the slot.

"Yo kid, this game is for advanced players. I want to face a REAL opponent, not some midget."

"Maybe you'd reconsider after taking a closer look at me."

"HOLY ! ATEMU MUTOU! You're on, pal! I am gonna beat the Game King, and then your little girlfriend here's gonna see what an idiot you really are! Let's go!"

Both of them picked their virtual cars for the computerized race, then concentrated hard on the screen as a bang issued from the game. Atemu narrowed his eyes in the poor light as his opponent plowed by, using a... _thing_... that closely resembled a construction (or demolition) vehicle of sorts. Atemu had chosen a racecar-type car, small and vulnerable to getting bashed by his opponent, but quick as a wink, much like Atemu's dueling techniques. Make one wrong move, and-

"I win," he declared smugly as his virtual car passed the finish line mere inches ahead of the other one.

"Man, they don't call him the King of Games for nothing," gaped a girl watching from the side, leaning on her boyfriend. To Anzu she said, "You're one lucky girl," which seemed to upset her boyfriend a great deal. "Don't worry Gus Gus, I still love you." He smiled as Atemu typed KOG onto the first spot on the high score list of the game. He always signed the games he won 'KOG,' King of Games. Anzu giggled.

"That score's gonna be there for a while."

He nodded. "Which one now?"

"I don't know, there are so many... geez, someone could stay here for days! Oh, that one!" She stood in front of a pinball machine. "You play it on that one, and then we'll compare our scores."

They each raced to keep the metal balls within the bounds of their flipper-things, and Anzu's last one soon fell through, leaving her with a relatively high score. She stood in back of her date and watched him battle on. His eyes snapped back and forth, analyzing every movement the ball made, and sent a message to his hands to punch the side buttons of the machine to make the ball head in whichever direction he desired. The muscles in his arms flexed as he jabbed at the left one, catapulting the ball onto a top ledge, as he racked up major points on the screen. He knew instinctively the exact moment to shake the machine, and his feet moved with his body as he prevented the ball from breaking into his territory.

"He's only on his first ball!" a member of the crowd shouted in amazement.

"And he's already topped the high score!"

But neither Anzu or Atemu heard them. Butterflies swarmed in each of their stomachs, and Atemu felt as if his was on fire. This was the best night of his five thousand years of remembered life.

* * *

An hour later, Atemu's last ball finally slid through the hole in the bottom. His score, signed KOG, took up two, nearly three lines on the high scores screen, and the crowd was stunned as Anzu and Atemu walked out of the arcade hand in hand, each beaming. 

"That was amazing! How do you do it?"

He shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure..." They stepped over the threshold of the restaurant next to the arcade, and a waitor greeted the young couple.

"Follow me." He lead them to a corner booth for two, and handed them each a menu as they slid in on either side of the booth.

"Can I take any orders for drinks?"

Anzu passed, but Atemu suddenly said, "One root beer float, please."

"I didn't have you down as a root beer float person," she mused as the waiter walked away.

"Really?"

"No."

"Well, I'm actually not a root beer person, but once Yugi had one and forced me to try it, and it's addictive." He smiled. "Especially when it's shared."

Anzu looked confused, but then she got it, and a smirk played around the corners of her mouth. "All right, I get it. Just as long as backwash isn't an ingredient."

He smiled. "It's not. Just root beer and vanilla ice cream. Why ever do you ask?" he asked innocently.

"I'm onto you, Atemu Mutou. You may be the King of Games, but you certainly aren't the King of Tact."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really." Anzu blushed as the waiter came back and placed said root beer float between them, and stuck two straws into it.

"Can I take your orders now, sir and miss?"

"Yes. I'll have the grilled cheese with fries," Anzu answered him.

"And you, sir?"

"I'll have the garden salad, Italian dressing," Atemu said.

When the waiter left Anzu turned to Atemu, a quizzical expression on her face. _"Salad?"_

"You've never had this place's salad, have you?"

"No, but _salad?"_

"Believe me, it's like nothing you've ever tasted. Kinda of like... their root beer floats."

"Fine, I'll try it already! But your plan won't work."

"What plan?" he inquired, the corners of his mouth twitching decidedly upwards.

"You're going to make me thirsty by drinking it and making a face like, 'This-is-the-most-heavenly-thing-in-the-world', so then I'll take a drink and you'll use that as an excuse to kiss me," she said, leaning forward involuntarily and sipping from her straw.

"Hmm... I hadn't thought of that, more like... _this-"_ He said, also leaning forward and drinking from _his_ straw. Their foreheads brushed together, causing each to blush furiously, and sending a familiar chill down the ancient pharaoh's spine. Anzu pulled back, cheeks tinged pink.

_Well, two can play at that game._ She inched her hand forward slowly on the table, never breaking his eye contact until his right hand was trapped under her left and his cheeks had flushed a bloody crimson color. But he didn't draw back. Actually, he was smiling, just gazing into the deep azure depths of her eyes, and she his crimson ones. She gasped as he took her right hand in his... _I can feel his heart beating in his wrist..._

They stayed still, frozen in time as the minutes slowly dragged by, each floating atop their own worlds of wonder and hope. Atemu was experiencing a falling feeling in his stomach that he'd never felt before.

_But it really isn't that bad... I like it in fact... It's like being on a roller coaster..._

But only too late did he realize that his new feelings were effecting his still-frail stomach in actuality. He felt a sudden jerk in his abdomen, and he pried himself away from Anzu and ran to the men's room, barely making it to a toilet before proceeding to throw up violently.

Back at the table, Anzu stared after his retreating figure in shock. "What just happened?"

Suddenly a different waiter appeared in front of her. He was humongous, nearly as big as the Panic guy they had met in Duelist Kingdom. "Was that _yer_ friend that just went by?"

She nodded mutely.

"I just saw him in that there bathroom. He's throwin' up somethin' awful. Some date, eh little misses? But... maybe I can make it better..." He inched closer to her.

"Stay away from me, you freak!" He had pushed her up against the back of the booth.

"No one's lookin', so why should I? Just give me all the money in your purse, and I'll go away, and no one will ever have to know, _especially _that no-good boyfriend of yers."

"He is NOT no good! And keep away!"

"No..." He reached a hand for her pocketbook, which she swung at him. It hit him in the face.

"Oh, so you wanna play rough, girly?"

" I don't think so," a rough voice snarled from behind the man. He whirled around to see Atemu, weakly supporting himself, arms leaning heavily on the table.

"Atemu!" He was deathly pale, and one hand gripped his stomach. His anger-flicked eyes were blurred with tears, and his fists flexed dangerously.

"Stay away from her," he growled in a deep, horrifying tone.

"Or what, you'll kill me with some Duel of Doom? I don't duel, kid, so you can't do that. So... I guess the only other option is a good clean fist fight." He clenched both his hands into fists and lunged at the weak boy without warning, tackling him to the ground. Atemu gasped for air under the burly man's weight. He grunted as his lungs emptied themselves... along with his stomach. In a few seconds the bigger man was completely bathed in the vomit the impact of their fight had pushed from Atemu's stomach.

"AGH! GERMS! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! YOU JUST PUKED ON ME! AH!"

With that he ran out of the restaurant, screaming bloody murder for anyone who dared ever puke on him again. Anzu looked after him in shock and confusion, then realized that Atemu was not next to her. Her eyes quickly grazed over the area, and she saw him lying on the floor at the foot of their booth. A restaurant staff member rushed over.

"What happened?" the young female waitress asked.

"T-That waiter... He tried to steal my purse, and then he attacked my friend!"

"Who, Harvey?"

"Yeah, the huge man!"

"That's Harvey all right... OHMYGOSH, what HAPPENED to him?" She stared in shock at Atemu, who was attempting to get up from the floor, shivering violently at crazy intervals as blood trickled from his nose and a gash on his head. Anzu knelt down beside him.

"Atemu! Atemu, can you hear me?"

"I-Anzu, I'm so sorry... I looked at you... and you were looking at me... and I felt something so... different... and then my stomach just... gave way... I'm so sorry for ruining this for you Anzu..."

"Stop worrying about me, you're as pale as a piece of paper!" She wiped some blood off his face with a tissue from her purse, and turned to the waitress. "Can you call an ambulance? He's very sick and I can't carry him home or anything..."

"Oh yes, right away miss!" The girl hurried off to make said phone call as Anzu took Atemu's jacket from on the booth seat and helped him shrug into it. When he continued to shiver she draped her own over him. "Calm down..." she whispered as Atemu's breaths came in ragged gasps from being tackled by the enormous man. She held him as he shuddered uncontrollably in her arms, and rubbed his back.

"I'm so sorry Anzu... I don't know what happened..."

"It's okay. Don't worry. An ambulance is coming, and you'll be fine. Don't worry." His body suddenly became limp, like jell-o in her grasp, and she lifted him up to sit on the seat of the booth. She remembered her cell phone, and whipped it out and called the Mutou residence. Yugi answered the phone.

"Hello, Mutou residence. Yugi Mutou speaking."

"Yugi! It's Anzu!"

"Anzu? I thought you and Atemu were on a date?"

"Well, we were- We _are, _but then he got sick, and this HUGE guy like, attacked him and he's bleeding like mad and we're going to the hospital- I've got to go, the ambulance is here!" She hung up, leaving Yugi dazed.

"Who was it, Yugi?"

"It was Anzu... Atemu got attacked and sick or something, and... something about the hospital and an ambulance... and blood..."

Sogoroku's eyes widened. "Oh no. Get your coat Yugi, we're going to the hospital. He turned to Isis, who was still over. She and Yugi had been merrily chatting in the living room as they watched the snow fall outside, grazing over any random topics that came to mind. "Isis, would you like me to take you home, or would you prefer to come?" He watched her hand pass over her heart and her lips whisper a few words as her eyes laid closed for a moment.

"I will come with you."

"What do you feel, Isis?" Yugi asked. Even without the Sennen Tauk, Isis still possessed the uncanny ability to be able to feel things about a situation, presences...

"I-I don't know. It's so strange..."

"Will he be all right?"

"Oh yes, but... Something caused him to fall ill so suddenly like that other than his illness as of late, I know it."

"We'll have to ask him if anything happened. Come on then, you two. Let's go." The three rushed out into the car and to the hospital.

* * *

Yeah, **Ninqe,** it's pretty obvious who Ryo's going to fall for... plus it's in the summary... that kinda gives it away too, but if y'all don't wanna ruin the 'surprise' for yourself, don't read the summary I guess! Ahem. I can't wait to see him onstage either, and I'm WRITING it! I LOVE Ryo! Yeah, it IS kinda hard to be sarcastic when you're a little blue fluffy bunny with a light English accent, ne? I'm glad you liked it! 


	12. Pairings and More Pairings!

**Disclaimer:** Ahem. I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh, because I am just a lowly sick-fic authoress who needs to get a life! But who am I KIDDING? This is WAY more fun than getting a life! I get to torture annoying characters, pair up the ones that were meant to be, and make Pegasus and his custom-made pink suit virtually nonexistent! This ROCKS!

* * *

Atemu coughed and opened his eyes, rubbing the sleep from them with his fists. _Where am I?_

"You're up! Jii-chan, he's up!"

"Oh, good. How are you feeling?" a kind voice asked. Atemu blinked a few times in the light of the room, to see Yugi perched on the side of the bed and his grandfather and Isis in chairs nearby.

"Mmph... dizzy." he held his head with his hand, feeling the bandages that had been wrapped around it. Then he remembered the fight he'd gotten into. "That man... is Anzu all right?" he asked in a panic.

"I'm fine, look at yourself first!" came a voice from his other side. He snapped around, his back painfully reminding him of his movement restrictions at the moment. Anzu smiled down at him. "Geez, you'd think you'd be more worried about your _life_ or something." Sogoroku chuckled as Atemu's cheeks grew flushed.

"What happened? What time is it?"

"It's nine AM, and basically you were knocked out cold, bleeding, got wrapped up like a mummy, set in a bed, and here you are!" Yugi answered cheerfully.

"Oh yes... That was right after that man... and I threw up..."

"Yes, and we have a question for you," Isis suddenly spoke up. He turned to face her.

"Atemu, I have a feeling that you were fine up until seconds before you became sick. Am I correct?"

He nodded. "How can you tell?"

"I can sense these things. You know that."

"Oh..."

"So, d'ya have any idea what made you throw up?" a familiar voicecalled as Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi and Ryo entered the room, followed by Rishid, Malik, Mai, Rebecca and Professor Hawkins and Jou's sister Shizuka. Rebecca sat next to Yugi on Atemu's bed, and the rest leaned on the wall, or the door, or just stood.

"Isn't there a limit of five visitors in here?" Atemu asked. He thought he knew what had caused him to become sick, but didn't feel like saying it in front of all his friends.

"Yeah well, Malik exercised a few of his 'methods of persuasion' on the nurse to let us all in. So, why'd ya throw up all of a sudden? That could be like, some health defect or something..."

"No... I think... it was Anzu..."

"What?" she asked, offended. A flash of anger crossed her face.

"No! Not like that!" _She's beautiful! How could she think for even a second that THAT was what I meant?_

"No, it's just... We were looking at each other, and..." He felt his face flush. "And well, you looked... beautiful, really, really beautiful, and I felt something so different... I felt... not like myself... and then my stomach just suddenly went wild and... I threw up." His cheeks burned in his embarrassment, and he kept his eyes trained on the covers of his bed as an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Jounouchi's face. His friend was smiling.

"You got lovesick, pal." He turned to Anzu. "I think you are one very lucky girlfriend of the King of Games. He loves you a lot." Anzu blushed as Jou patted Atemu's shoulder before moving back to standing between Otogi and Ryo. Otogi was beaming, but Ryo looked... detached. Atemu followed his friend's gaze across the room... to where Isis was looking at Ryo in the same way. _This could be interesting..._

"Hey, we've got the whole band here!" Atemu said, as all his friends craned their necks, counting band members. "Well, except for Bakura. How's he doing, Ryo?"

"Huh- What? Did someone say my name?" the white-haired boy asked, snapping out of his 'daze.'

"How's Bakura?"

"Oh, he's good... Well, he's throwing up every few seconds but he's doing well... He taught me the song pretty well, and Isis was there too..."

"Why don't the two of you practice?"

"Here?" Ryo squeaked, suddenly seeming to shrink two inches in height. "But it's a love song!" His cheeks became very red very fast as he seemed to shrink even more.

"So? It's a good song, and your voice is perfect for the tenor part. And I haven't heard you two yet."

"Well..."

"Please?" Mai pleaded. She caught Atemu's eye. They knew what was going on. Isis and Ryo were each blushing furiously and avoiding each other's eyes. It didn't take the rest of the band long to figure it out, either. The song was their only love song, so naturally it was for a soprano and a tenor, and the two had to possess the ability to actually sing softly. Ryo and Isis, or Bakura and Isis were perfect. Except when Ryo sang it, there was something more to back the sound up...

"Please? Pretty please with sugar and a cherry on top?" Mai begged them.

"You should be a professional matcher-person, do you know that?" Malik asked her.

"You know, I'm actually considering it. It's a mix of mood lighting, scenario-creating and... prompting in the right direction, is all. Take now for instance," she replied cryptically, leaving everyone except the band members, who knew the song, clueless. "PLEASE, Isis?" she asked her friend.

"You'll have to hear it at the rehearsal later today," she replied, smirking. She knew that Mai knew, but seemed to enjoy teasing her blond friend.

"Oh, so you admit it?" Mai asked.

"Yes I do. And I see nothing wrong with it." Now everyone except for Mai and Isis were clueless. But Atemu was beginning to catch on. He decided that Mai was being just a bit too mean, though.

"Aren't all of you supposed to be in school, well, most of you?"

"It's a day off because of that teachers' meeting, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

A nurse ordered them all out then, so everyone except for Yugi, Sogoroku, and Anzu left, cheerfully waving goodbye and smiling as the nurse clucked around, looking like a flustered chicken. Anzu tapped Atemu's shoulder and pointed to where Ryo and Isis were holding a whispered conversation, then dashed off down the hospital's hall in the opposite direction of everyone else when no one was looking. A few seconds later they reappeared in the room.

"What are you two doing here?" Yugi asked.

"Well," Ryo explained, "The visitor limit is five, so we're just... a completion!"

"Sounds all right to me," Sogoroku laughed. "Though the two of you being a completion could take on two different meanings, if you know what I mean. He winked, and Ryo and Isis just beamed at each other.

"What do you think?" Ryo asked, snaking an arm around her waist. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're not serious!" Yugi exclaimed, jumping up from the bed excitedly. When did he ask you?" he asked Isis.

"A few seconds ago. Everyone was obviously predicting it, so we just... helped it along!" The Egyptian girl hugged her new boyfriend. The two were just about eye level, so they looked perfect together. The light blue of Ryo's shirt contrasted perfectly with Isis's deep indigo sweater and black jeans. On occasion she wore her old linen garments, but most of the time she dressed normally.

Sogoroku threw his arms up in the air. "I feel like I should be getting me a lady or something! It's contagious!" Yugi laughed.

"Hey," Anzu said slyly, "Let's get Jou and Mai together while everyone's at it, and make a go for Honda and Shizuka."

"Wow Anzu, you're _brave,"_ Yugi said, impressed.

"No, I just like getting people together," she replied. Atemu chuckled.

"Anyone in particular you liked?" Sogoroku asked as Anzu and Atemu laughed together. Suddenly though, Atemu's face changed.

"What's wrong 'Temu?" Yugi asked.

"I-I'm going to be sick!" He jumped up and dashed for the bathroom connected to the room, emerging a few minutes later looking dizzy and sick.

"Are you all right?" Ryo asked, helping him climb back into his bed.

"Yes, just dizzy... and tired..."

"Let's go and let you sleep then," said Sogoroku, getting up from his seat.

"Bye 'Temu!"

"Bye! Get better so we can retry that date!" Anzu joked. Ryo laughed as Atemu hid his flushed face under the covers.

* * *

Wednesday afternoon, Atemu was back home, though his head was still bandaged and he wasn't going back to school until the next Monday as a safety precaution, Ryo and Isis had gone on their first date and hadn't been attacked by any drunk waiters, and Atemu and Anzu were planning their second while also trying to get Mai and Jou together. Honda and Shizuka? They couldn't stand all the romance in the air, and had done it all on their own, so that made Anzu and Atemu's job all the more easy. Jou and Mai weren't really going to be hard though, at the rate their scheming was working.

Atemu, Yugi, Anzu, Ryo and Isis were all lounging around Yugi and Atemu's room, talking, singing, or doing homework. Isis and Ryo performed a spectacular scale warm-up that caused Yugi and Anzu to cheer. Atemu tried to, but ended up coughing.

"Easy there 'Temu!" a glowing Ryo exclaimed. You want to be able to at least talk, don't you?"

"I suppose that talking is useful, isn't it?" he asked, chuckling.

"Yeah."

Everyone burst out laughing at the same second, Atemu's deep, chuckle filling in under the higher range of voices, creating an echo affect. Sogoroku heard them all and came up to see what all the laughing was about.

"What's going on in here?" he asked, sticking his head in the door.

"Not much. We were just planning how to finally get Mai and Jou together. Got any suggestions?"

"Sorry, but that's for you kids to do. I don't want any more girlfriend complications in this house other than yours," he replied, pointing from Yugi to Atemu. "I'll tell you Atemu, you have awakened a different ancient evil in asking Anzu out!" Isis and Anzu laughed as the elderly man left for downstairs.

"So we're evil, are we?" Isis asked Ryo, and he laughed as she nudged him playfully in the side.

"I suppose so," he replied lightly, waiting for it to sink in. Then- WHACK, Isis was chasing him around poor Yugi and Atemu's room with Ryo's THICK English textbook in her hand, whacking him over the head with it whenever she got the chance. When they finally settled down, Atemu breathed a sigh of relief that most of the damage had been done on Yugi's side of the room, while Yugi just sulked.

"It's okay Yugi, we'll clean it up," Ryo offered, reaching to pick up a few stray papers. Isis nodded and knelt beside the boy, reaching for the dustpan and brush in a corner.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Jou walking Mai home 

"Hey Mai, will you go out with me?"

"Yes! Geez, I was WONDERING when you were going to ask me! Atemu and Anzu have been dropping hints and pushing us together for two days!"

"Oh, okay then..." He grinned as his favorite pizza parlor came up as they crossed a street.

"How about some pizza? On me."

* * *

Well, that was kinda short, but chapter eleven was a little longer than usual I think, so I think it evens out. That was a pretty dry attempt at fluff or whatever, sorry guys. But I needed to get the pairings going! One, two, three, "GO ANIME PAIRINGS!" 

I'm glad you think so, **norestar-angel**!

**Queen Insanity,** I went to read Eternal Love, but realized it contained spoilers for the final thing so I didn't read it, I wanna be surprised when the dub gets there! But from the few sentences I read, it was sappy and gooey goodness! I sound like I'm talking about cinnamon buns or something... And OH YEAH BABY, I ADORE the AnzuAtemu pairing! Can't resist them together! I can picture them in front of a roaring fire, cuddling in all fluffiness and gooey goodness... There I go again! They're the main pairing in my other story, Cry of the Black Magician, but if you don't like tragedy don't read it!

**Ninqe,** you like DDR too? I LOVE it! I LOVE to dance! And DDR is like, HUGE in Japan apparantly, those lucky Japanese people... They get all the DDR machines... Urg-Is glaring Bloody Murder- Oh well. Yeah, I like root beer floats... so naturally they HAD to have one! I LOVE those too! In fact, I LOVE DDR, LOVE root beer floats, and LOVE the AnzuAtemu pairing! LOVE them all! Yeah, Kaiba must be REALLY jealous!


	13. Destiny's Song

**Disclaimer:** I -sniff- don't... own... Yu-Gi-Oh! WAAAAAAAAAAA!

* * *

Friday after school, Crimson Love, plus Ryo and minus Bakura, was gathered for a dress rehearsal in the Mazaki family's basement, which Anzu's parents had generously let them use for their practices when the group realized that none of them had a basement. They also had a test audience of Anzu, Yugi, Jou, Shizuka, Honda, Otogi, Anzu's parents, and Sogoroku Mutou. 

"ALL RIGHT!" Atemu screamed over the roar in the basement.

Dead. Silence. Then Atemu bagan to cough, and Anzu burst out laughing.

"Nice one 'Temu!" Jou called. He was silenced by The Glare, followed, of course, by a small grunt and the killer Frown. Atemu's arms crossed themselves out of habit as he stared Jou down.

"All right, all right! I give up!" the blond exclaimed. Atemu smirked.

"Okay people, come on! Ryo, how do those clothes fit?" Malik asked, inspecting Ryo up and down.

"Well, they _fit,_ what they're _made_ of is more the question you want to ask."

"Okay, so what are they made of?"

"I was hoping you'd know, actually."

"Nope. Sorry kid. But you do look good." Ryo blushed as Malik walked back to his drum set in clothes much the style of the chakis and tank top he'd worn in Battle City (A/N: Y'all know, THOSE ones.), except he was all in black. Mai was in a bright red, sparkly dress that actually went down to her knees and didn't have a slit of any kind, and Isis was in black jeans and a red-and pink shirt, the two vibrant colors shaping a butterfly. Rishid was in baggy jeans and a black tank top that was artfully ripped about the shoulders, and Ryo was in the outfit he'd bought with Malik's help the other day, the shiny red pants and black shirt with 'Rocker Dude' written across the back in red, and a pair of Atemu's boots. The girls were decked out in all their punky jewelery, and the boys in chains.

Meanwhile, Ryo was still getting used to the boots. "How do you _walk _in these things, 'Temu?" he asked his friend, who wasn't participating in the practice as he wouldn't be performing anyway.

The once-pharaoh cleared his throat in order to talk. "I'm not sure really. Yugi got me used to them, I guess," he replied hoarsely, cursing his cold under his breath.

"What was that, 'Temu?" Yugi inquired playfully. "Certainly not _cuss words_? Not the King of Games, cussing?" He mocked a gasp.

"Grr..."

"Aw, lighten up," Anzu's voice came from behind him. "He's just fooling."

Atemu smiled at her words. "All right then. Yugi, consider yourself lucky." He and Anzu each saw Sogoroku and Anzu's parents watching them, so Atemu took Anzu's hand.

"Do we have your approval, Mr. And Mrs. Mazaki?" he asked, Anzu giggling.

"You've got mine," Anzu's mother replied. "What do you think?" she asked her husband and Sogoroku, who were having fun teasing the two.

"I suppose..." Sogoroku thought aloud. "Yes, I guess they'll do. "And you?"

"All right then," Mr. Mazaki answered.

Atemu smiled, and lead Anzu to sit on the steps leading down to the basement so they could watch the band practice.

"It feels so weird being back here, instead of up there," he mused, indicating where Crimson Love was about to begin.

"Yeah, it's like me watching a ballet, instead of being in one," his girlfriend said, smiling.

"ALL RIGHT PEOPLE! COMPLETE SILENCE IS ASKED OF OUR TEST AUDIENCE, UNLESS IT'S TO PUKE-" Malik shouted, smirking in Atemu's direction, "-BECAUSE IF IT IS TO PUKE, NO PUKING ON THE EQUIPMENT PLEASE! SO NO TALKING, UNLESS OF COURSE YOU JUST CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT TELLING US HOW COOL WE ARE!" he finished up. Isis laughed, hitting a few keys of her keyboard as the song started. She and Ryo were front and center, she with her keyboard and he with his acoustic guitar, which was a _slightly _diffent shade than Bakura's. Malik was in back with his drums, Rishid back and to the left with his electric guitar, and Mai back and to the right with just a microphone. Normally Atemu would be with her.

Isis continued to play, fingers grazing lightly across her keys as her voice began to hum along with it, soon joined by Ryo's deeper, magically ringing tenor tone. Isis started out,

_When one is there,  
And nothing is seen,  
Your heart is blind,  
You are a machi-ine,_

Then Ryo took over, timidly keeping his eyes trained on the ground as a blush spread over his cheeks-

_But you know,  
That somewhere you will find,  
Someone of your kind,_

_That will exist,  
That will be real,  
That you can touch,  
That you can feel_-

Then the two came together, Isis flying high over Ryo, who was singing in his lowest range possible for a few measures, as the other voices and instruments began to slowly wind their way in-

_There's something not there,  
There's something amiss,  
You long for that feeling,  
You long for that kiss-  
_

_The kiss of truth,  
The kiss of soul,  
The kiss that tells you,  
You're in control-_

_Oh-_

Now Isis sang solo, accompanied by an echo compliments of Rishid and Malik, to the resounding beat of Malik's deep drum and the flow of Rishid and Ryo's chords, and her slow, shy notes, lovingly tapped out on many white keys. She started strong and immediately softened from there.

_If you find me,  
If you're there,  
Don't you take long,  
Don't take care,  
Hurry up before I'm swallowed,  
By unanswered_ _prayers-_

Isis ended neatly, draping a crisp blanket of silence over the song and leaving it hanging suspended for a milisecond over the last note. Then it was Ryo's turn, he was backed by Mai's strong alto-

_But the choice is difficult,  
At which road do I cross,  
In order to be pried apart,  
But still remain whole?_

_At the Lane of Hearts_,  
_Or the Avenue of Truth,  
Or the Drive o-of Soul-_

After he crescendoed on the last word, the two again bonded into one mystic, flowing voice:

_Never worry,  
Never think,  
Push until you're on the brink,  
Let your mind wander,  
And decide with your heart.  
Confused?  
Find me to start-_

_Oh-_

_When mind and soul collapse to one,  
You know you can't go wrong,  
Feel with your love,  
Touch with your heart,  
And sing sweetly destiny's song-_

Suddenly all background noise died out, and Ryo and Isis's voices were all that remained. Isis started,

_And sing sweetly_-

To be taken over by Ryo-

_Destiny's-_

Then the two linked together again-

_So-ng..._

They crescendoed and decrescendoed into utter silence, broken only when Anzu's parents started to clap.

"Oh, that was wonderful!"

"Yes, amazing. You kids sure are something!" Mr. Mazaki exclaimed excitedly, then turned to Ryo. "How come you aren't in this band, eh?"

"Me?" the boy replied, ruffling his hair nervously. "Oh no, I'd be far too scared to do this a lot... and my voice isn't deep enough yet for rock like they do. I could just do this one because it was a love song-"

"But you're really good!"

Ryo blushed deeper. "Maybe in a few years... decades..."

The older man chuckled. "Whatever. What did you think, honey?" he asked his wife. The two got into a discussion about music with Sogoroku as the boys started to pack up the heavy equipment.

"Atemu!" Malik shouted. "Could you pry yourself away from your girlfriend for a minute, and help me get the drums to Mai's car?"

Atemu's cheeks became nearly as flushed as Ryo's as he removed his fingers from their interlaced position with Anzu's and went to help Malik with his drum set.

Meanwhile, Honda was asking Shizuka out that night, much to Otogi's dismay. The dice-boy sighed, realizing there was nothing he could do. Oh well. He still had his fan club...

"Ryo!" Mai surprised the white-haired boy by popping up behind him, microphone in hand.

"Yes Mai?" he asked.

"You did a great job hun, especially for singing a love song with your new girlfriend, but just remember that tomorrow night you'll have to forget yourself onstage and be a little more outgoing about it, okay?"

He nodded. "Don't worry. Bakura's been... teaching me how to be... well... He's teaching me how to be... um..."

"Un-Ryo-like?"

The small boy laughed. "That would be it! But really don't worry, Atemu taught me a trick to remember to keep my head up and smile, which he also says makes me blush, which I suppose would work for this song, and it probably doesn't even show onstage, right? And Bakura told me to just pretend I'm in my normal clothes to try to make me feel more comfortable, which kind of cancels out what Atemu told me to do but I get both points, so-"

"Okay, I get it. Don't kill yourself, hun. Which 'look-up-and-smile' technique did Atemu teach you?" _He has many..._

When Ryo trained his eyes on his shoes, blushing furiously, and just gave a slight mumbling in response, Mai knew immediately which one he'd been taught.

"Oh, so he told you the 'look-down-and-picture-yourself-naked-so-look-up-and-feel-the-chains-on-your-pants-clink-so-know-you're-not-naked-so-smile-in-great-thanks-for-the-clothes-that-Kami-sama-has-provided-you' technique?"

"Yeah, actually. How do you know?"

"That's the one he taught me once when I just kept looking down in a certain random measure of a song, and it's worked for me every time since I first tried it. The kid knows his stuff." Ryo cracked an amused smile.

"All right then, that works. Would you like a hand with that?" he asked, pointing to the microphone she had been hauling into her convertible.

"Sure, thanks." Together the two lifted the device into Mai's backseat between Rishid and Malik, who were catching a ride home to the Ishtars' apartment. Isis was going to the Kame game shop with Sogoroku, Yugi, and Atemu to work on a song with Atemu, Jou was taking Mai out, Honda was taking Shizuka out, and Otogi was... Otogi. As the rest of the group left Anzu's, she wandered back into the house after saying goodbye to the gang. One thought ran through her mind, though.

_Didn't Atemu once say that a perfect rehearsal would mean a bad show?_

* * *

Geez, am I horrible at suspense or am I HORRIBLE AT SUSPENSE? 

Oh well. In the meantime, **Review Replies:**

I know, **Black-Caracal,** aren't they just irresistible together?

He's not going to die in this one, **Electric Fire,** it was just convenient for the sake of fluffiness and for getting him and Anzu together, which HAD to happen! I LOVE them together! Ahem Yes. So. Right. Well, GO ANIME PAIRINGS!

**Norestar-angel,** I live to please my readers! ;)


	14. Destiny's Song vs Ever Again

**Disclaimer:** It's on my Christmas list.

* * *

Saturday at four-thirty PM, whatever-time-zone-Domino's-in, the regional round of the Band War competition was about to start. Members from twenty-one bands swarmed around the entrance to a concert hall in a town just outside of Domino. The seats were once again sold out, and the pressure was now on. Only two bands could make it into the half-country competition, and then from there there were the Japan-wide finals, in which just four bands would play in competition for first, second, and third places. 

"Move over, Rishid!" Malik shouted from a corner where he was smushed up against the wall. "I can't breathe!"

"Sorry," Rishid shouted back, moving slightly so that the younger boy could take in a bit of air, clutching his electric guitar. Ryo was next to him, fiddling with the strings of his acoustic. Isis was the only instrumentalist that hadn't given in to fiddling. Yet.

The doors to the hall opened, and the bands all found their assigned seats. Atemu, sitting between Yugi and Anzu in the very back row, grabbed Ryo's hand as he walked past.

"Remember, you're naked unless you look up into the audience and smile." Ryo blushed and ran on so as not to lose the other Crimson Love members in the thick throng of performers. Anzu noticed her boyfriend's uneasy expression.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Ryo."

"Why? He was awesome at your rehearsal the other night!"

"Oh, I'm confident in his _ability,_ very confident in fact. It's more his health I'm concerned about, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"He looks pale- well, paler than usual I mean, and this morning when we held one last practice his voice sounded... a bit croaky."

"Maybe it's just finally getting deeper."

"Overnight? I don't think so, Anzu. He lives with Bakura, so I'm worried that he may have caught the flu from him."

Anzu squinted to see where Crimson Love was seated, watching Ryo sit down next to Malik. He didn't say anything, just stared at the stage.

"Hey, you're right. He looks... weird."

Atemu cracked a smile, then sighed. "Well, all we can do now is hope for the best."

"I guess you're right... What number are you guys, well, minus you I mean."

He nodded his understanding. "Tenth out of twenty-one. So it's a half-show wait, then we play, then another half-show wait. The only thing better is being three quarters of the way through, to get more used to the new surroundings and calm down, and also to be able to compare yourself to more previous groups. But it's a lot better than being first."

"Fair enough- Ooh, they're starting!" She held Atemu's hand as the lights dimmed and the first band set up onstage...

* * *

...and held it until it was Crimson Love's turn up. The band hastily set up their equipment, warming up in the minute-and-a-half allowed in this round. Ryo with his acoustic and Isis with her keyboard took their front positions, Mai to the right and back, Rishid to the left and back, and Malik in his never-changing position in the very back, on the drum set. They started at a signal from the judges: 

_When no one is there,  
And nothing is seen,  
Your heart is blind,  
You are a machine,_

_But you know,  
That somewhere you will find,  
Someone of your kind,  
_

_That will exist,  
That will be real,  
That you can touch,  
That you can feel-_

_There's something not there,  
There's something amiss,  
You long for that feeling,  
You long for that kiss-_

_The kiss of truth,  
The kiss of soul,  
The kiss that tells you,  
You're in control-_

_Oh-_

_If you find me,  
If you're there,  
Don't you take long,  
Don't take care,  
Hurry up before I'm swallowed,  
By unanswered prayers-_

_But the choice is difficult,  
At which road do I cross,  
In order to be pried apart,  
But still remain whole?  
_

_At the Lane of Hearts_,  
_Or the Avenue of Truth,  
Or the Drive o-of Soul-_

_Never worry,  
Never think,  
Push until you're on the brink,  
Let your mind wander,  
And decide with your heart._

_Confused?  
Find me to start-_

_Oh-_

_When mind and soul collapse to one,  
You know you can't go wrong,  
Feel with your love,  
Touch with your heart,  
And sing sweetly destiny's song-_

_And sing sweetly-_

_Destiny's-_

_So-ng..._

As the crowd jumped to its feet and roared its approval. Rishid, Ryo, Isis and Mai formed a row in the front by joining hands and bowed while Malik thrust his drumsticks into the air in a 'V' shape. He shouted something that couldn't be heard from the seats over the wave of applause, but it made Isis and Ryo chase him around, trying to kill him with their instruments, each blushing. That gave Atemu some idea.

"I wonder what Malik shouted to make Isis and Ryo want to kill him," Yugi stated, on Atemu's left side. Atemu shrugged. He was much too nervous to care. _Please, let that be good enough for the judges, please... please Kami-sama, have mercy upon us, please... Wait, what am I saying? I worship Ra! Please dear Ra-sama, have mercy upon these – no- OUR poor, beaten souls... Yes that's it..._

The rest of the bands didn't worry him that much. Ryo had been nearly perfect in his performance, no matter how rattled he had looked prior to and following their show. He had kept his poise, followed all of Atemu's tricks, sang perfectly, did everything he was supposed to. Atemu actually had a hard time believing it was quiet, modest Ryo on the stage instead of Bakura. The white-haired boy's every move was more jerky, random, outgoing than the former pharaoh had ever seen him execute. He looked like a born rocker. And it was hard to miss the wide smile on his face at the end of the song. So really, as the last band set up to play, Atemu wasn't worried in the least.

Until he heard them.

They were a rock band, three guys and a girl, who was the girlfriend of the drummer. All three of the tall, strong boys wore black leather pants and green tank tops, and she wore green-painted bell bottom jeans with a black spaghetti strap shirt. They had a drummer and two electric guitarists, and the girl was their lead singer along with another guitarist. Their song was hardcore rock, so at first Atemu wasn't worried. Then he caught on to the beat, and found himself lost in the lyrics. That wasn't good.

_So I say,  
Try it my-y way,  
Forget the thrill,  
It's all the chill_,  
_Never look down,  
Always up,  
You never know,  
What'll erupt._

_And when you think,  
'Does this make sense,'  
Lose your brain,  
Hence,  
Your inability to think,  
Not able to feel,  
Allow yourself the joy of the reel,  
But is- it- REAL-_

_Will you ever be able_,  
_To love again?_

_Will you ever be able,  
To touch again?_

_Will love exist,  
Ever again?_

_Are you guaranteed,  
To last forever?  
Do you know,  
For sure-  
Are you the player,  
Or be-eing played?  
What are you searching for-_

The background noise came to a halt, then creeped back in on the tips of its toes into a great crescendo, as the girl belted into the microphone-

_What are you-_

_SEARCHING- FOR-_

The applause in the room rivaled that for Crimson Love as the last band, named Unseen, took their seats. Atemu caught Ryo's eye, from near the front of the seats. The boy's deer-soft eyes were huge and worried. Atemu sent a message back with his eyes, _'Don't worry.' _Ryo got the message and turned back around, awaiting the judges' final word. Atemu found himself desperately wishing he could have been there for voice support, then smacked his forehead, mad at himself. _You can't fix what can't be fixed, Atemu, _he told himself.

"Hey," Anzu said from next to him, "Calm down. Don't kill yourself over this thing."

"But there're only two top spots... Do you realize how close this will be? This is a serious competition, and-"

"ATTENTION PLEASE! MAY I HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!" A judge stood on her chair, trying to get the audience's attention. When she figured that the dull roar in the room was the quietest she was going to get, she gave up and read the names of the winners. Let all who didn't hear suffer.

"I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE..." and so on for twenty Ra-darned minutes, until she finally just came to the Ra-darned winner.

"IN SECOND PLACE, UNSEEN!"

The crowd of one thousand roared in approval as the rock band Atemu had noticed stood and waved to their fans, ecstatic. The girl and her drummer boyfriend hugged, and the rest of the band was smiling. Atemu's stomach twisted into a secure knot as he crossed his fingers.

"AND TAKING FIRST FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THIS COMPETITION, CRIMSON LOVE!"

Atemu whooped in joy as he saw the rest of his band cheer and hug each other down below. Ryo turned and caught the shorter boy's eye, smiling broadly. _'I did it!' _he mouthed excitedly. Atemu smiled and gave him an air high-five, which Ryo returned before being caught off guard as Isis practically threatened his life with one of her hugs. Atemu laughed to see the boy's face become very red, both from lack of air and blushing, as she didn't let go of him for nearly a minute, then turned to Mai.

"They did it again!" Anzu exclaimed. She hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy I could kiss you-"

He nearly gagged, and she laughed joyously.

"-But I won't. Not yet, anyway..." She smirked as he was glomped by Yugi on his other side.

"Yeah 'Temu!" Yugi let go as Atemu coughed. "Whoops.. hehe... Guess I went a little too hard, eh?"

Atemu flung an arm playfully at Yugi, stopping when he heard his name from out of nowhere, spoken in a deep rumbling voice.

"Atemu." The boy whipped around.

"KAIBA?"

"Your little albino's got some talent, you know. Maybe he should join you."

"Where did you COME from?" Anzu asked, appropriately freaked out.

"Where do you THINK I came from, Mazaki?"

"Well- Oh forget it, you're not listening anyway. You are a freak, did you know that?"

"I am well aware of your opinion of me Mazaki, and to tell the truth I don't give a- (Here Kaiba uttered a few 'rude' words that shall not be repeated in print.)."

"Kaiba..." Atemu growled.

"Save your breath, short stuff." The tall CEO walked off down an aisle, and Atemu vaguely saw him take his little brother's hand upon getting back to his seat before losing sight of him.

"That was..."

"Weird?" Anzu supplied.

He nodded. "Very."

"Atemu!" Atemu turned to see Ryo bolting towards him full-force through their back row of people, the rest of Crimson Love behind him. He threw himself into the shorter's arms, the chains attached to his pants jingling. "OH, thank you so much for helping me! I didn't mess up, not once! Thank you so much!" Atemu smiled as he was squeezed to death by the younger boy, before gently prying him away in fear for his oxygen intake.

"Oh, sorry," Ryo apologised sheepishly as his friend began to cough roughly, turning his head to the side. "I didn't mean to nearly kill you..." He didn't get a reply, as Atemu was still coughing. Anzu rubbed the boy's back until he stopped, gasping.

"Hehe... sorry 'Temu..."

"That- That's okay," he choked out before giving a few more short coughs. Ryo blushed and looked positively guilty.

* * *

Two days later after school on Monday, the whole band was gathering for a practice, songwriting session, and test session in the Mazaki basement. Atemu, Ryo, and Malik didn't change out of their Domino High uniforms, just waded through the snow to Anzu's. Atemu saw that Anzu was shivering in only her thin blazer and short uniform shirt, so he lent her his jacket. 

"T-Thanks 'Temu," she mumbled appreciatively, "But you're sick, you should wear it."

"I'm fine. I wore a long-sleeved shirt under my uniform today," he replied, tugging at the sleeve of said long-sleeved shirt. He knew that Anzu was right, but he didn't like to see her unhappy. He tried not to shiver as their group turned the corner onto Anzu's street.

"Achoo!"

Anzu smirked and draped his coat back over his shoulders. "I told you so."

"It's not worth it to argue with you, is it?"

"Nope-"

"Race to Anzu's house!" Mai shouted suddenly. They all forgot their conversations and darted for Anzu's home, about a hundred yards down the road. Atemu felt a familiar soaring feeling in his stomach as it was quickly he and Anzu tearing up the snow in the front of the pack. He leapt over a puddle with ease as the distance to his girlfriend's house quickly diminished, disappearing under his legs, deftly racing over the snowy pavement. He reached the door first, Anzu coming in ten seconds later, then Jou and Honda, Otogi, Mai, Ryo, Isis, Rishid, Malik, Shizuka, and Yugi last.

"Now fair guys! I'm half your height!" the small boy panted.

"Well 'Temu's not much taller than you, and he comes in first every time," Ryo replied. Yugi stared daggers at his yami.

"Sorry, Yugi. Can't help it," Atemu joked as they all filed in the door and lined up their wet shoes by the radiator to dry, Anzu opening up the door to the Mazakis' basement.

"I'm home, Mom!" she called as they descended the steps.

"Hi honey, hi everyone!" Mrs. Mazaki shouted back. Atemu was at the back of the group, having had to take a few extra seconds to remove his multi-buckled boots.

"Atemu, how are you feeling? Will you be able to sing in the next competition round thing?"

He rubbed and cleared his throat. "I _think_ I'll be able to sing. Jii-chan keeps telling me to stay inside, but..."

His girlfriend's mother smiled. "You kids never cease to amaze me, do you know that? Do you know exactly what you've got?"

"Actually... no. Jii-chan thinks it's probably that I got a few things at once, because first I just coughed and all that and couldn't talk, and my stomach didn't start acting up until later, so... I really have no idea!"

"Well, that works too-" Anzu appeared at Atemu's back then, putting her hands on his shoulders. He turned swiftly and smiled, seeing her face.

"Come _on, _Rishid is going to have a cow if you don't get down there and help him with some vocal chord writing or something like that!"

"I was just trying to get a good rep with your mom!" he exclaimed as Mrs. Mazaki laughed.

"You already have one, sweetie. You two go down now; I don't think I can pay for what a cow would cost if your friend had one."

"And Malik's a guy, too..." Atemu stated as Anzu chased him down the stairs. Mrs. Mazaki chuckled.

"Those two were meant for each other." She went to go check on cookies baking in the oven, smiling.

* * *

Uck, sappy I know... That really is a horrible attempt at a fluffy ending of a chappie, it just screams CHEEZY! Oh well... 

**norestar-angel,** I'm glad you think so! Thanks!

**Queen Insanity,** yeah, it would've spoiled the end for me. . But what I did read was good! I'm glad you liked the chappie, and I'll read whatever of your stuff ya want me too, as long as I don't spoil anything for myself. I'm kinda obsessive like that... heh. I'd love to be your friend! Well, we kinda are friends already, aren't we? You're cool!

That's okay **dragon shadows,** it's hard to review a lot! I try to review a lot, but sometimes you just have one of those off-days, eh? Or a lot of 'em! Yeah, half my stuff is sick-fics, I mean, this WAS, once upon a time, going to be a sick-fic oneshot... see what happens to plans in this world? And he's sick AND dying in Cry of the Black Magician, and in Christmas Dreams he's gonna get sick... why do I pick on Atemu so much? That's seriously creepy... whatever. I'm glad you like it, considering I'm such a total icky sap person!

Sorry **Ninqe,** notes.. nope. So I guess whatever you want it to sound like, just with the dynamics and tempos I manage to convey however badly works! Yeah, that method actually works... hehe. . Yeah, poor Ryo. I LOVE YOU RYO! Ahem. Sorry 'bout that. Of COURSE I'll update soon! Are you KIDDING? Writing is all I do, I seriously come home from school, start typing up a chapter, get off for dinner, finish the chapter, post the chapter! Yep, that's my incredibly nonexistent life.


	15. Discussions and Problems

**Disclaimer:** My Christmas list it is on, own it I do not. I also don't own Pantene shampoo. But Isis has a bottle of it!

* * *

"All right people, come on! Quiet!" Malik yelled. "Come _on!"_

"You know, I don't think they heard you," said his older sister from behind him.

"Someone get Atemu over here. He could whisper, and everyone would quiet down."

"How does he _do_ that?"

"What do you want me for?"

"Oh, hi 'Temu. Could you do that thing you do how you just say something and everyone suddenly listens to you?"

"Sure." He cleared his throat. "The fate of the world now rests on our shoulders."

Silence.

"How do you _do_ that?"

"I have no clue."

"Whatever. Okay everyone, practice time! Band members, to your places! Pending band member, to the tryout microphone!"

Ryo blushed and took a deep breath, walking up to the microphone they had set up in the Mazakis' basement.

"I can't believe I talked you into this!" Mai exclaimed.

"Neither can I," he muttered to the floor.

"All right, is everyone where they should be? Relatively at least? Atemu, are you sitting this one out?" Isis asked him over the babble in the basement.

"Just this one. I'll be able to sing at the next rehearsal though."

"Okay, just play it safe then. All right people! Start when you're ready, Ryo," she instructed her boyfriend, Crimson Love's possible new permanent member.

The white-haired boy took a deep breath and held the microphone closer to his lips, softly singing an excerpt from one of their songs and strumming along on his guitar, accompanied my Malik on the drums, Isis on her keyboard, and Rishid on his electric guitar, while Mai sat the round out so he was the only singer.

_Feel,  
Soar above all else,  
Fly,  
Kno-ow nothing else,  
Hear that voice-  
Know that you're,  
Never really alone,  
There's always someone e-else,  
That can help you-_

_Do you think you're the only one?  
To ever feel that way?  
To ever be the helpless one?  
Well you're wrong-  
Do you know the things I feel,  
Or what my heart has to say?  
Have you any idea what I go through,  
Each and every day?_

_If you pretend to, you will pay,_

_For you are blinded,  
By your sea of fantasy,  
Optimism annoys you,  
You can't see,  
The way you're trying to,  
You can blame that on you-  
You can blame that on you..._

"Okay Ryo, that's enough," said Atemu. He and Mai were acting as judges.

"So does he make it?" asked Isis.

"Well... That's a tough one... Let Mai and me have a few more seconds..." he teased as Ryo quivered in fear of Atemu's decision. Seeing the scared expression on the boy's face, Atemu laughed. "You're in. You would have been in anyway, but this was just a torture method."

Ryo stared in disbelief, then ran up and hugged his friend. "Oh thank you! I can't believe it!"

"So you really did like being up on that stage, didn't you?" asked Mai slyly.

"Well, at first it was scary, but it was a lot of fun too, singing up there in front of everyone."

"Wasn't it the 'being in front of everyone' part that originally scared you?"

"I can change my opinion, can't I?"

"And you just did!" said Malik. "Welcome to Crimson Love, official member Ryo Bakura!" Ryo smiled.

"Kids!" someone called from up the basement stairs.

"Yeah Mom?" Anzu called back, recognizing the voice.

"Cookies and hot chocolate! Get it while it's hot!"

Jou and Honda exchanged glances, then darted up the stairs, shoving each other every three feet.

"Come on guys, let's go get some before Jou and Honda eat everything up," Yugi joked, and they all headed up the stairs and into the kitchen after their two friends.

Yugi took a cookie and stood next to Atemu and Anzu. _Wow, they got together fast-_

_(I heard that, Yugi! Do you have a problem with it?)_

_/Just thinking to MYSELF how the two of you will probably be married soon at this rate./_

_(Yugi Mutou, I will have your head!)_

_/Meep./_

"So where is the next performance of this Band War thing?" asked Mrs. Mazaki.

Bakura, who had popped out of nowhere, answered her. "It's this Saturday night, the usual. It's about one hundred miles from here though, so we're allowed to skip school that day to drive over."

"When did you get here?" Ryo asked.

"Two seconds ago."

"Right. Are you feeling better?"

Bakura nodded.

"How do I suddenly have a dozen extra children?" asked Mrs. Mazaki.

Anzu smiled. "Sorry Mom. Are we being to loud?"

"Oh no, I was just wondering how there were thousands of people in my house all of a sudden!" The woman laughed. "Wait until I tell your father about this. He'll get a kick out of it." She left for her room upstairs, presumably to call Anzu's father.

"Man, you've got a nice mom."

* * *

It was Friday night, the night before their third-round performance. Crimson Love was not in good shape. 

Ryo had caught Bakura's flu, and Bakura had suddenly gotten sick again. Scratch two members.

Atemu, like Bakura, had fallen ill last night and spent the whole morning throwing up. Scratch another member. They were down to four.

And those four were having a bit of trouble.

"But we haven't got any or our lead male voices! How the heck are we supposed to do this?"

"Would you rather surrender the com-"

_Bring! Bring!_

"I'll get it," said Isis. The four healthy members had gathered in the Ishtars' apartment. She walked into her room and answered her private line.

"Hello?"

"Isis?"

"Yes... Atemu?" She heard coughing on the other line.

"Yes, it's me." She cringed hearing his raspy voice. "I'd try to get out of the house again, but I can barely talk, let alone sing. I'm so sorry."

"That's all right. We'll find a way to do this."

"Maybe we should call another group meeting."

"That's a good idea. Where though? Aren't Bakura and Ryo too sick to move?"

"I know that Ryo's pretty much fine except for the minor detail that he can neither talk or walk, and Bakura's not throwing up, he's just useless."

"What about you?"

"Uh... Let's just say that I've given up on eating anything. It doesn't stay down very well."

"So would it be all right if everyone came to your house?"

"That's fine by me, and Yugi and Jii-chan won't mind. Everyone's always over here anyway."

Isis laughed. "That is true, isn't it?"

"Yes. So... group meeting here in half an hour? Or less, whenever everyone shows up?"

"All right. Bye 'Temu."

"Bye." He hung up, and, feeling a familiar lurching feeling in the back of his throat, made a dash for the toilet in the bathroom.

* * *

Twenty-Six Minutes Later: 

"Is everyone here?"

"In the flesh."

"Stop joking, Jou. This is serious."

"I wasn't joking."

"QUIET!"

"Thank you," said Malik, climbing back down from the chair he had been standing on. In the Mutou's living room, Anzu sat on a chair braiding Shizuka's hair as the brown-haired girl sat before her on the floor, while Mai sat on the opposite chair, braiding Isis's. Rebecca and Yugi were next to each other on the floor, and Jou, Honda, and Otogi had all found seats on the rather crowded couch. Ryo and Bakura sat facing the inside of the group's little circle on two kitchen chairs that had been brought in, Sogoroku was leaning against the wall, and Atemu leaned against the door frame so as to be able to make a quick run to the bathroom should the need come. Malik and Rishid just stood there. Jou, again, was the leader of the meeting, because Atemu couldn't do it.

"All right, this meeting of... us... will now begin!" he said, and everyone listened.

"All right, now to discuss the issues at hand. 'Kura, 'Temu an' Ryo are all sick and the band can't perform like that. Any suggestions?"

"Ya kill me with your enthusiasm, really. Come on people, think! And why does it feel like I've said this before...?"

Anzu rolled her eyes, tying off a braid in Shizuka's long, unruly hair. "How do you brush this stuff out, Shizuka?"

"I don't know, really."

"All right then, that works!"

Jou cleared his throat. "Ahem. People, could we please stay on our original subject? Hair is great, but we're talkin' about the band right now. Mai, whadda ya think?"

"Hmm... Isis, what shampoo do you use? Pantene? Your hair's so soft."

"Really? No, I just use whatever's on sale. We didn't have shampoo when we lived in Egypt."

Mai gasped. "No shampoo? I don't know how I'd sur-"

"AHEM!"

Both girls looked to see Jou looming over them.

Mai and Isis: Meep.

"I asked you what you thought, Mai."

"Oh? What about?"

"Grr-"

"Bleeeaaach!"

"What the-" was all Jou had to say as Atemu rushed past him on his way to the bathroom. The blond cringed.

"At least he made it in time," said Honda. The others weren't impressed.

"That's gross, Honda."

They sat in silence for a minute until Atemu shuffled back into the room clutching his stomach, a very nauseous expression on his face.

"Are you all right?" asked Yugi. He got a Death Glare as a reply.

"What do you think, Yugi? My stomach just emptied its nonexistent contents for the third time in an hour."

"Okay... wrong thing to say, then."

Atemu just uttered a small Atemu-Grunt and resumed his position of leaning against the door frame, arms crossed protectively in his usual position.

Anzu finished braiding Shizuka's hair and went over to him, giving him a quick hug and feeling his forehead as everyone else watched in silence. "Mr. Mutou?"

"Yes, Anzu?"

"Um... maybe you should feel his forehead... he feels even hotter that he did just a little while ago."

Sogoroku grunted and nodded his agreement, walking over to check his grandson's temperature. But he quickly became more concerned with catching the boy as Atemu's body went limp and he fainted, sprawled out motionless on the ground.

There was no way they'd be able to perform.

* * *

Oh my gosh, I'm making them all suffer so much! I love them! I don't want them to suffer! But then again, I'm the authoress... 

Yeah **Ninqe**, I really thought they were going to take first too, but it wouldn't have made a difference so... I decided to be as nice to the poor Crimson Love members as I could... poor guys. I really torture them. Oh well. Go ahead and write your own version of the songs, fine by me! Mine are just... weird. But whatever. You like them, my other readers like them... so I'll go with 'em!

They really ARE meant for each other, **Ksaturn,** huh? I LOVE Anzu and Atemu together! I can picture them in front of a warm cizy fire in a ski lodge, Atemu in a crimson knit sweater and Anzu in a beige suede-y jacket, falling asleep in each other's arms on a warm brown couch as the snow falls outside...

You are very cool **Queen Insanity**. How could someone named Queen Insanity NOT be cool? Insanity rocks! Linkin Park or Evanescence... hmm... I can REALLY picture AnzuTea as an Evanescence girl in both the sub and the dub, I dunno about Linkin Park. Maybe. Your story is cool too!

Hehe, um... it's a blood-COLORED sweater **HiddenInTheNight**,... not blood-covered. Oops. It's fixed now though!

Shucks, thank you, **norestar-angel**.

You think it's sweet, **Black-Caracal**? I thought it was more cheezy-sappy, but I'm glad you liked it!


	16. Didn't Think I Would

**Disclaimer**: Still on my Christmas list.

* * *

Atemu groggily rolled over in bed, the white sheets rustling crackily- 

_White sheets? My sheets are black. Am I hallucinating...?_

"Where am I?" the ex-pharaoh asked himself, jerking up. His head spun and he was immediately forced back down onto the bed by Yugi's forceful hand on his chest.

"Ow... where are we, Yugi?"

"In the hospital. You fainted."

"I... I did?"

Yugi nodded. "Anzu was so scared she was crying, and Isis had to quiet her down. She was really worried about you, you know."

"I'm sorry, Yugi. I didn't know I was going to faint."

"That's all right. I'm just glad you're better now."

"When is now, exactly?"

"When is now- Oh, you mean what day?"

"Yes! Did we perform? Is Bakura better? What happened? How did Crimson Love do?"

"Whoa! Calm down 'Temu!" Yugi braced himself for the reaction he'd get from Atemu when he told him the news. Of course, he would twist it a little to play with his yami's mind, but...

"Well... you didn't win." He was stunned when the older boy didn't lash out at him, didn't scream, didn't cry. He just sat there.

"'Temu?"

"What?"

"Well... this might not be much of a consolation prize, but... you came in second!"

He received The Glare of all Glares.

"Yugi Mutou, you will be killed! That was NOT funny! So we're in the next round, then?"

"Yup, for our half of Japan!"

"YES!" He began to cough from the sudden outburst, and the younger patted his back.

"All right there 'Temu?"

"Better than just all right! How did they do it?"

"Well, Bakura's flu went away and Ryo wasn't puking or anything, so Ryo was there to at least play his guitar and Bakura could do both, so they got a practice in early Saturday morning and... they went in and kicked butt!"

"Who was the first place band?"

"That one that joined you in that gig once, the all-girl one that's pretty much all rock?"

Atemu grunted in obvious distaste.

"You would've beaten them if everyone was actually there and healthy, but at least you made it to the next round! And there are only two winners in this one!"

"I know. I hope I'm better by then. I haven't been up on a stage in... a while. It feels so odd being in the audience instead of being the one entertaining it."

Yugi laughed. "You're weird-"

"Yugi! Atemu!"

Yugi whirled around as Anzu entered Atemu's room, still in her school uniform. Following her were Sogoroku, Ryo, Bakura, Jou, Shizuka, Honda, Otogi, Mai, Isis, Malik, and Rishid, those who were still in school also in their uniforms, as was Yugi.

"Hey guys. Did school just get out?"

"Yup!" Anzu replied cheerfully. "Yugi just wanted to run ahead."

Yugi smiled. "Yup!"

Everyone in the room chorused, "Yup!" leaving Atemu confused.

"What's with that?"

"Yup!" They all cracked up. Well except for Isis, who smiled as Malik rolled on the floor with laughter. She helped him up.

"Hehehehe... Thanks Isis... hehehehehehehehe..." Malik panted as his older sister just shook her head.

"So what day is it?" Atemu asked.

"Tuesday."

"Have I been asleep since Friday night? Seriously?"

"Yup."

Everyone cracked up again.

"So what are we performing on Saturday?"

Suddenly everyone became serious.

"We haven't decided," said Malik softly.

"Why not?"

"We wanted to wait to see if you'd be able to sing, hun," said Mai, sitting on the end of his bed, which his feet didn't even nearly reach.

"You guys could've gone ahead and at least prepared something."

"We wanted to wait until you woke up."

There was silence in the room for a second.

"You didn't think I was going to, did you?"

* * *

Ouch. Poor guy. I put him through so much pain. -cackles evilly- 

Sorry about the length guys, well, the lack thereof, but my uncle says that this one's been suffering because my attention's so focused on Christmas Dreams now, so I decided to just do a quickie one here so it doesn't leave my mind completely... sorry 'bout that. Next one will actually have some existent length. As for me, might as well do Christmas Dreams chappie four!

Ah, but, **Ninque**, what's wrong with fangirls who sit around all day waiting for people to post? I find it quite fun! Indoor or outdoor soccer tournament? I hate the indoor ones, those little unnecessary pieces of fake dirt stick to the bottom of my cleats and they don't come out until you get home, and then there's plastic dirt all over the carpet. Ick. But that has nothing to do with fanfiction, and I have succeeded in drabbling my life away! WOOHOO! Go drabblers!

-random thought now over-

Apparently they DID perform, eh **norestar-angel**? HOW they did it is my secret... hee hee. But it was a bit of a mistake on Crimson Love's part. And it'll give 'em problems leter. All I'm sayin'. ;)

Who wouldn't have, **Black-Caracal**?

**Queen Insanity**, I don't know how anyone wouldn't like a pen name like Queen Insanity'; it just screams, "COOLNESS AHEAD!" NERDS BEWARE! Hehe, there's a little problem with that though, I'm a major nerd... hehe. Ahem, I'm drabbling again. I've stopped.


	17. Reach Out

**Disclaimer**: Guess what I'm gonna say. If you guess, ahem: "It's still on my Christmas list," either you've read everything I've written or you are a psychic, in which case you wouldn't have guessed anyhow, so if you are a psychic and you made that prediction... well that's just not fair to the rest of us. Ahem. Mad Authoress Rant is now over. It is safe to come out now.

* * *

Recap: 

"_We wanted to wait until you woke up."_

_There was silence in the room for a second._

"_You didn't think I was going to, did you?"_

* * *

"Well?" asked the once-pharaoh impatiently. 

"Atemu... don't be angry. Please don't be angry, but you were just so out of it..."

"Okay. Fine. But really, we need to decide what we're going to do."

Mai approached him cautiously. "We need to base that on whether or not you'll be singing. How's your throat?"

"It's better, actually. I can actually talk without it hurting."

"Could you scream?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. But I could sing in front of a large audience, if that's what you're getting at."

"All right. So..." She turned to the rest of the band. "How about..."

"REACH OUT!" Malik screamed, accompanied by Bakura.

"Yeah! Let's do Reach Out!"

"Whoa there you two... geez, I've never actually seen Bakura hyper... what happened? But anyway, could you do Reach Out, Atemu? It's kinda hard, I mean, we wrote it a few months ago and I swear your voice seems even deeper since then, can you do the high notes without too much strain on your throat? Because if you're still sick you want to go for something a little easier-"

"Geez Mai, give the poor guy some space to think!"

Mai smiled. "Sorry 'Temu."

He grinned. "Nah, I'll be able to do that one."

"Okay, then it's settled!"

"Wait, I don't know it," said Ryo softly.

"Oh yeah... Bakura and Atemu, could you two teach it to him?" Mai asked.

"Sure."

"As soon as I can get out of the hospital. By the way Jii-chan, do you know when that is?"

Sogoroku answered him, "It should be as soon as they run a few tests to make sure you're all right, and you have to LOOK better as well. And faking won't work with these doctors." He eyed the boy warily.

"Don't worry Jii-chan, I actually feel better now."

"Good. Then you should be able to go home by tomorrow."

* * *

The Next Day, in the Mazaki Basement: 

"Okay people, can we ACTUALLY have order here? PLEASE?" Malik screamed above the dull roar in the room. "Geez, it's a good thing I don't sing too much. Is this how much 'Temu's throat hurts after HE yells into that mic?"

"Did you say my name?" the mentioned pharaoh asked, coming to stand by Malik.

"Yeah, I did. Could you get their attention? We need to start, and Ryo has to make sure he's memorized everything."

Atemu grinned. "One silent room, coming up." He cleared his throat. "An ancient destiny shall now awaken. It is our duty to save all of mankind."

Complete. Utter. Silence.

"Okay, let's start. Thanks 'Temu."

"Any time," the shorter boy replied, cracking a smile as he walked over to the microphone set up in the middle of the basement.

"Ready to start, everyone?"

Malik clicked his drumsticks to a strong beat as the band assembled, all in their respective places. Malik was, as usual, in the back. Isis and Ryo were back and off to the right, a mini-section of higher voices and playing, and Rishid and Bakura were back and off to the left, a similar mini-section of tougher, stronger voices and playing, with Atemu and Mai in the center.

"One, two, a one two three four-"

The song took on a slow, flowing tempo as Isis tenderly struck ringing notes on her keyboard, slurring them into well-crafted, soft triplets, then weaving in a lower, more sturdy ostinato as she slowly shaped the tune into a deeper, more melancholy cry. Atemu and Mai readied themselves to sing as Ryo, Rishid, and Bakura crept in on the strings.

_Do you ever wonder why,  
The in the world there is no harmony?  
Or ever asked yourself,  
If you are what you want to be?  
Have you ever felt at peace,  
Just thinking to yourself?  
Or do you require,  
Is it necessary,  
To burden someone else?_

_Has no one ever taught you,  
To love just for the heck,  
That love is not strangling,  
At someone else's neck?  
Has anyone ever said to you,  
That what you're doing is wrong,  
That to be complete,  
You don't compete,  
Just have faith, and ride along?_

_Has anyone ever told you,  
To reach out, reach out?  
Has anyone ever advised you,  
To_ _speak out, speak out?  
Has anyone ever told you,  
To live the moment you're in?  
'Cuz hate, it hurts,  
And sorrow, it burns,  
And that's not a way to win-_

* * *

...Saturday Night, Half-Japan Competition... 

_And why does it hurt,  
When lies fly around,  
When the grey wolf calls,  
When the newborn bawls,  
When hate is the only sound?_

_You know why,  
You just won't say,  
Because the truth,  
It scares you,  
And you know,  
That if you stay the same,  
That nothing could prepare you-  
For the impact of love._

_So just hold your love close to you,  
Don't let it slip away,  
And peace will be with you,  
Each and every day,  
Listen to what I say-_

_Has no one ever taught you,  
To love just for the heck,  
That love is not strangling,  
At someone else's neck?  
Has anyone ever said to you,  
That what you're doing is wrong,  
That to be complete,  
You don't compete,  
Just have faith, and ride along?_

_Has anyone ever told you,  
To reach out, reach out?  
Has anyone ever advised you,  
To_ _speak out, speak out?  
Has anyone ever told you,  
To live the moment you're in?  
'Cuz hate, it hurts,  
And sorrow, it burns,  
And that's not a way to win-_

The band now took to alternating leads and supports as they chased each other in musical circles, flying on the notes of a full-force cannon of seven unique sounds.

_(Reach) Reach... (Reach, Reach-)  
Out... (Out, Out)  
(Speak) Speak... (Speak_)  
_Out...  
Let your love (love)_ _out,_

_And never worry a-gain._

The background music died down nearly instantly as Atemu and Isis sang the last line, each at the highest they could possibly sing without killing themselves, which for Isis was very high and for Atemu was very deep. Mai went through a harmonic, drifting scale to accent the end of the melody as their voices all broke off to a complete hault after a precise number of beats.

The sold-out audience practically jumped to its feet in thunderous approval as the elated members of Crimson Love packed up and trooped down from the stage. Isis and Mai hugged each other tightly as Rishid and Malik double-teamed poor Ryo, Bakura and Atemu soon joining the two in glomping the pale boy to death.

"Great job, Ryo!"

"You're definitely one of us now!"

"Awesome!"

They filed back into their seats as a hush fell over the auditorium. Crimson Love had been last to perform, and now every band was anxiously awaiting the result. It was no longer a judged performance, but an electronic audience vote. After a few minutes, a tall man in a suit and tie stood up on the stage.

"IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY VOTED, PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE NOW! LET THE COUNTDOWN START!"

The crowd watched the hands on the hall's giant clock count down to midnight, roaring along, "TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! **ONE**!" The cavernous hall erupted in cheers as the clock tolled midnight. The man onstage glanced at the electronic device in his hand, then picked up the microphone from its holder.

"IT IS NOW MY PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THE THREE WINNERS, THE TOP TWO OF WHICH WILL COMPETE IN THE JAPAN-WIDE BAND WAR FINALS!"

More cheers came from the audience, and then the room quieted down. The very pressure and anticipation in the air twisted Atemu's stomach about violently, making him feel slightly sick.

"THIRD PLACE GOES TO FIRE GURLZ!"

Atemu watched as the all-girl rock band made their way onto the stage to accept the man's trophy, happy yet unsatisfied.

"IN SECOND PLACE, EVER AFTER!"

A punkish band shot up from the seats in front of Crimson Love and ran up to the stage, their lead singer gratefully accepting the second place trophy and a small card, the ticket to performing in the next round of competition.

"AND LASTLY, TAKING FIRST PLACE IN THE HALF-JAPAN FINALS OF THIS BAND WAR, CRIMSON LOVE!"

Malik punched the air and again jumped on Ryo as they made their way up to the man amidst tumultuous applause; it was obvious where the majority of votes had been. The man handed Isis a gold trophy and shook each of their hands. When he came to Atemu, he gave the boy a discreet nudge and held his electronic vote tally chart so Atemu could barely read it as the two shook hands. The pie wedge for Crimson Love filled over eighty percent of the screen. Atemu smiled his appreciation and the man winked as the ex-pharaoh followed his friends off the stage, heart soaring with glory.

Now there was only one round and three other bands between Crimson Love and the national title.

* * *

I left a half-decent ending to the chapter! Yay me for actually using an ending that isn't corny! 

Wow, I'm flattered **Bradybunch4529**! Thanks so much! Don't you just love Anzu and Atemu together? I think they're the best couple in the anime world! Well, Atemu (finally) got to sing, hope you liked it! Peace out!

Sorry I wasn't really on the ball with updating, **Ninqe**. But I got some of Christmas Dreams up... my goal is to finish that one by or a li'l after Christmas, so sorry about the wait for the post. Yeah, I'll bet that the doctors in the hospital who didn't already know him by name do now! Maybe I should send him there, just one more time... nah, I'll save that for Cry of the BM. He's dying in that one anyway, so what the heck, eh? We can be drabblers together! YAY FOR MINDLESS DRABBLERS! We talk about anything and everything, and are never lacking of opinions! YAY! GO US!

**Queen Insanity**, I'm glad you thought it was cool! My stuff is all getting a bit too angsty though, and it's starting to worry me... ah well. Life goes on. I sometimes hate to have relatives come over, it depends on -ahem- which relatives they are and whether or not I'm missing a good episode of Yu-Gi-Oh or a soccer game. -growls- So yeah...

You're right ** norestar-angel**, what's not to like about cliffies? .

**dragon shadows**, the last one may have been fast, but this one... ick. All of a sudden I'm like... "Whoa! I haven't updated Band War in like... a long time! To the compy, to update Band War!" So sorry about that, hope you liked this one. And wadda ya mean, I'm killing all the main characters? That's only in Cry of the BM, and it's only Atemu then! Way to accuse people, lol. But yeah, I can see where that's comin' from, hehe. I feel very evil right now... heh.

Thanks, **Ksaturn**. I'm glad you like it. I'll read Dream, but it might take a while because a LOT of people are asking me to read their fics for some reason. But I'll be sure to leave reviews a plenty!

I know, **Black-Caracal**, lol. Sorry I didn't update very soon... hehe. But I was on a roll with Xmas Dreams and I didn't wanna lose the momentum and amazing lack-of-writers-block, so I had to post a chunk of that first. Forgive me.

Whoa, this one got a ton of reviews! I'm wowed! THANK YOU WONDERFUL REVIEWERS... and all that jazz. See you all next update, which will -I hope- be sooner than this one! Bye bye!


	18. Much More than Music

**Disclaimer**: Kazuki Takahashi I am not. A lowly fanfiction authoress I am. Talk like Yoda I do. Seen Star Wars too many times I have. Own Yuugioh and Star Wars I do not.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, aliens and... others, I take great pleasure in welcoming you to the final stage of our Band War competition! I am Mr. Paul Jollykanker, and all I have to say is this: let the music begin! First up, Ever After!" 

There were whoops and cheers from the crowd as Mr. Paul Jollykanker left the stage, the first of four finalist bands getting up on the stage and setting their equipment up. Isis gripped Atemu's arm, nerves actually getting to her.

"Calm down," said Bakura. "You're going to cut off the circulation in poor 'Temu's arm!" Malik, down the row, nodded vigorously.

Isis looked down at her fingers, which were turning Atemu's skin white. "Oh, sorry."

"That's okay. It's just adrenaline. And Bakura, your reaction isn't much better than Isis's."

"Hey! So what if I have problems going to the bathroom when I'm nervous?"

Atemu just shook his head as the band, the one that had placed second after Atemu's in the last round, started to play.

_Heart of love,  
Mind of truth,  
Spirit of fate,  
Soul of binding,  
Binding of emotion..._

When Ever After was finished, half the audience was too busy crying to clap, and those who did clap were shouting and yelling and pounding on the floor.

"Holy crap..."

"They were amazing..."

"Come on guys, we can beat 'em!"

"Mai... maybe we can't, this time..."

The announcer-dude stepped on the stage. "Next up, we have Wishes!"

The Wishes band set up, warmed up, and began a loud rock song, its beat pulsing through the whole hall. Atemu felt his teeth chatter from the noise, and thanked Ra when they were done.

"Next up, Crimson Love!"

There were quite a few more shouts from the audience as the seven Crimson Love members made their way up to the stage and set up in their normal position of Mai and Atemu front and center, Bakura and Rishid back and to the left, Isis and Ryou back and to the right, and Malik in back with his drums.

Atemu waited for the signal from Isis, a few slow, sweet notes from the keyboard. There they were. The world around him was no more as he allowed himself to be wrapped in the warmth of the music, the music that had healed them all, helped them all, guided them all, and pushed him in the direction of discovering himself.

_Find Something,  
Something there,  
Though something soft,  
Like wind on air,  
Hard as metal, cold as ice,  
Hear the music, don't think twice,  
Find your rhythm, find your beat,  
Follow your great dancing feet,  
Fly away,  
From homes, from bounds,  
And a treasure you have found._

_Dance, dance for healing,  
Dance, dance to breathe,  
Dance, dance to soar,  
Dance, dance to seethe,  
Dance, dance to let go,  
But keep holding on,  
And then you know,  
That you have mastered the song._

_Dance to hug, dance to kiss,  
Dance to touch all that you miss,  
Dance with emotion, be alive,  
Find the power that within you thrives,  
It's on your feet, not in your bed,  
So get up and look ahead._

_Dance...(dance) dance for healing,  
Dance...(dance) dance to breathe,  
Dance...(dance) dance to soar,  
Dance...(dance) dance to seethe,  
Dance...(dance) dance to let go,  
But keep holding on,  
And then you know,  
That you have mastered the song._

_Follow the steps, one by one,  
That others have created,  
But, but, if something's wrong,  
And you find you hate it,  
Flow... flow... the beat is in your hands,  
Flow... flow... the place is where you stand,  
Flow... flow... there is no right and wring,  
(flow... flow...) As long as you follow  
Your inner song._

_Dancing...  
Dancing to the sky,  
Dancing...  
Dancing past the moon,  
Dancing...  
Dancing into trouble,  
Dancing...  
Dancing into love,  
Dancing...  
Because you're flying, though not off the ground,  
But to you, it is enough.  
_

_Dance... (fly)  
Soar... (try)  
Love... (it all)  
Dance... (through every hall)  
Dance...  
Dance...  
Dance..._

They ended, all on the same note, all heads down, all faces flushed, as the crowd literally bounced off the walls. The song was slow, every note so very wonderful, delicate, and tantalizing in its existence that it had the audience on the edge of their seats, listening intently, all inwardly screaming for more, though not crying out for fear of ruining the perfection before them.

Atemu smiled, hearing Yuugi's little voice call out, "GO CRIMSON LOVE! WOOHOO!" from a front-row seat. He sent Yuugi a thumbs-up on the way back to his seat, which was returned energetically by Rebecca, next to Yuugi. Atemu laughed as she threw her arms around the small boy, taking him off guard.

"Did we do good?" Mai asked worriedly.

"I don't believe that just 'good' sums it up," Ryou commented, cheeks pink.

"Definitely," Rishid agreed, taking the last seat as they all filed into their row.

The announcer-dude came BACK onto the stage.

"Thank you, Crimson Love! And now I give you the last band of our show tonight, Chicken Noodle!"

Chicken Noodle trooped up onto the stage, gathering their instruments and themselves and preparing to play.

_Prepare yourself, friendly friend,  
Know yourself, friendly friend,  
Help yourself, friendly friend,  
Be yourself, friendly friend..._

They ended on a tender chord, striking a pose together in the middle of the stage. The crowd loved it, standing and clapping like crazy, as they had for Crimson Love. Isis gripped Atemu's arm again.

"Isis... would you mind not cutting into my skin?"

"Sorry... I'm just so nervous!"

"I know."

The hall became uncomfortably silent as the audience voted electronically for their favorite bands. Then the announcer-dude went, you got it, back on the stage. His announcement was similar to the last words of the previous announcer from the last round of competition.

"IF YOU HAVE NOT YET VOTED, PLEASE DO SO NOW, OR WASTE YOUR VOTE! LET THE FINAL COUNTDOWN BEGIN! TEN! NINE..."

His voice was magnified by a thousand as the entire audience joined in with him, screaming, "EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! **_ONE!_**"

The announcer-dude pressed a button on his hand-held vote tally, holding the microphone as close to his mouth as possible.

"IN THIRD PLACE, EVER AFTER!" The audience roared as the members of Ever After stepped onto the stage, all smiling broadly. Atemu clapped hard, his stomach flipping about within him as he imagined Crimson Love in that position...

"ATEMU, GET UP! YOU SPACED OUT! WE WON!" Bakura and Malik shoved him into the aisle and up onto the stage as the man handed Ryou a gold trophy, instructing them to stand in the center of the stage.

"SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! THE THREE WINNERS OF OUR BAND WAR COMPETITION! EVER AFTER IN THIRD PLACE, CHICKEN NOODLE IN SECOND, AND IN FIRST PLACE, CRIMSON LOVE!"

The audience erupted as the three bands beamed. Atemu shook hands with the lead singer of Chicken Noodle, a pretty girl with bubble-gum colored pink and blue hair, decked out in punkish attire. "You have an amazing voice," he said. She smiled sweetly, replying, "I want to go to an arts college. You too?"

He hadn't thought of that; it had never even crossed his mind. Surely anyone who had gotten this far in this competition could make it into a fine college.

"I'm sure you'll make it," he assured her. He was. She had an amazing voice, as he'd said. His body was soaring, head spinning around in endless spirals as the bands talked, waiting for the hall to empty out. When the announcer-dude finally dismissed the bands, Isis glomped every band member she could as Mai went crazy with hugs. Atemu pocketed the email address of the lead singer for Chicken Noodle, hoping to stay in touch with her.

"ATEMU!" He turned just in time to see Anzu bowl him over, smothering him on the floor and kissing him lightly, causing both to blush furiously.

"Anzu!"

"YOU WON!"

"Yeah... we did."

Just then a group of reporters swarmed around the entrance to the concert hall, all pushing and shoving for interviews. Atemu smiled wryly, answering the question of one, "How has this affected your life? What have you gotten out of it?"

"Much more than music."

* * *

Atemu lay in bed later that night, thinking about the answer he'd given. Not just to the reporter, but in his heart as well. He thought about all that had happened over the last month. 

_'Much more than music'... How much actually did come out of this? Isis, Rishid, Malik, Bakura, Mai and I came out of depression, Ryou discovered courage he didn't know he had, I found.. love, I guess you could call it... I DO love Anzu, very much... Jii-chan and I got closer, I made friends with opponents... it really was 'much more than music.'_

He fell asleep, the lyrics to 'Dancing' spinning around in his head and the melody of love in his heart.

**The End**

* * *

And that's all there is, folks! Hope you liked it! 

Thankies a bunch, **straykitty**!

Thankies also, **Black-Caracal**!

**Ninqe**, you'd probably never heard the term 'drabbler' because I made it up! BWAHAHAHAHA... ha. Wow... you had... interesting teachers... that DOES sound disturbing. Yes, Atemu is one hundred percent, undeniably hot, and we fangirls are at the mercy of his one hundred percent, undeniable hotness. -sigh- But, we can dream... I think... I dunno, do you dream a lot? At might, I mean...

Thanks, **dragon shadows**, but ah... whatever happened to that weekly update? Sorry about that... I got involved with other ones, and gah, I realized it had been nearly a month since I updated this one, so I'm like, "Oh no! I totally forgot that fic existed!" LOL!

Thanks, **Kawaii Chibi Yami**! I'm glad you like it... even if it is for the angst...

Thank you muchly, **HiddenInTheNight**!

Thanks to you too, **Ksaturn**!

And you too, **norestar-angel**! That guitar sounds cool! Do you already play, or are you going to take the lessons as well?

And that's that! Bye bye for now, and thanks so much to all you wonderful reviewers!

Peace 'n' Lotsa Lotsa Luv,  
BlackCharmgirl


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